Nervous diseases are diseases that develop as a result of damage to the brain and spinal cord, as well as peripheral nerve trunks and ganglia. Nervous diseases are the subject of study of a specialized field of medical knowledge – neurology. Since the nervous system is a complex apparatus that connects and regulates all organs and systems of the body, neurology closely interacts with other clinical disciplines such as cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, orthopedics, traumatology, speech therapy, etc. The main specialist in the field of nervous diseases is a neurologist.
ND can be genetically determined (Rossolimo-Steinert-Kurschmann myotonia, Friedreich’s ataxia, Wilson’s disease, Pierre-Marie ataxia) or acquired. Congenital malformations of the nervous system (microcephaly, basilar impression, Kimberly anomaly, Chiari anomaly, platybasia, congenital hydrocephalus), in addition to hereditary factors, can lead to unfavorable conditions of intrauterine development of the fetus: hypoxia, radiation, infection (measles, rubella, syphilis, chlamydia, cytomegaly, HIV), toxic effects, the threat of spontaneous termination of pregnancy, eclampsia, Rh conflict, etc. Infectious or traumatic factors affecting the nervous system immediately after the birth of a child (purulent meningitis, asphyxia of a newborn, birth trauma, hemolytic disease) often lead to the development of such nervous diseases as cerebral palsy, childhood epilepsy, oligophrenia.

Acquired ND are often associated with infectious lesions of various parts of the nervous system. As a result of infection, meningitis, encephalitis, myelitis, brain abscess, arachnoiditis, multiple encephalomyelitis, ganglioneuritis and other diseases develop. A separate group consists of traumatic etiology: TBI, spinal cord injury, traumatic neuritis. ND that occur in old age are mainly caused by vascular changes (dyscirculatory encephalopathy, TIA, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke), less often by metabolic disorders (Parkinson’s disease). The incidence of oncological nervous diseases remains high. The limited space inside the skull or spinal canal leads to the fact that even benign tumors of this localization (astrocytoma, craniopharyngioma, ganglioneuroma) have a malignant course. In addition, the problematic nature of complete removal of CNS tumors causes their frequent recurrence.

Clinical manifestations directly depend on which part of the nervous system was involved in the pathological process. Thus, nervous diseases with brain damage can be accompanied by headache, dizziness, gait and coordination disorders, speech disorders, hearing and vision loss, paresis and paralysis of a central nature, changes in the psyche. Nervous diseases associated with spinal cord pathology are manifested by motor and sensory disorders below the lesion level. Diseases of the peripheral nervous system (trigeminal neuralgia, facial neuritis, intercostal neuralgia, cervical plexitis, polyneuropathies, radial nerve neuropathy, femoral nerve neuropathy, etc.) are characterized by pain syndrome, sensitivity disorders, muscular atrophy, motor disorders, vegetative and trophic changes in the innervation zone of the affected nerve.

The foundation of instrumental diagnostics traditionally consists of such studies as radiography of the spine, Echo-EG, EEG, REG, electromyography, in children of the 1st year of life – neurosonography. They are replaced by more accurate diagnostic methods: computed tomography, MRI, PET of the brain, ultrasound of the vessels of the head, duplex scanning. And, if REG and echoencephalography, as methods of diagnosing nervous diseases, gradually lose their significance, then EMG and EEG remain indispensable. They make it possible to identify functional changes occurring in many that are not diagnosed by neuroimaging methods. In some nervous diseases, diagnostic search requires lumbar puncture, stereotactic biopsy, puncture of the ventricles of the brain, and other diagnostic operations. Since the nervous system is closely interconnected with other organs and systems of the body, for a more accurate diagnosis of nervous diseases, a neurologist (a pediatric neurologist) often needs consultations from other specialists: an ophthalmologist, an endocrinologist, a cardiologist, an orthopedist, etc.

Treatment as a rule, includes a whole range of measures aimed not only at combating the cause of the disease and its etiopathogenetic mechanisms, but also at maximum recovery of the neurological deficit resulting from the disease. For this purpose, physiotherapy, physical therapy, mechanotherapy, reflexology, manual therapy are widely used in the treatment of nervous diseases. Treatment of aneurysms, tumors, intracerebral hematomas, abscesses and cysts of the brain requires surgical intervention. In some cases, surgical treatment is used for epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Brain surgeries and spinal cord interventions are performed by neurosurgeons. They carry out modern surgical treatment of nervous diseases with the help of minimally invasive microsurgical techniques and under the control of neuroimaging. Methods of functional neurosurgery have been developed that are successfully used for torsion dystonia, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s chorea and other nervous diseases accompanied by muscle tone disorders, tremor or hyperkinesis.
You can learn more about the causes, symptoms, methods of diagnosis and treatment of individual nervous diseases in the corresponding section of the Medical Directory of Diseases. The Medic Journal website also provides descriptions of the main hardware studies that help diagnose various nervous diseases.

Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy is a form of generalized epilepsy, the clinical picture of which is based on myoclonic seizures — asynchronous muscle contractions that occur briefly in symmetrical areas of the body, mainly in the arms and shoulder girdle. Along with myoclonic episodes, absences and clonic-tonic generalized epiprimes may be observed in the clinic. Juvenile…

Juvenile Absence Epilepsy

Juvenile absence epilepsy is an idiopathic variant of epilepsy that manifests in adolescence. The basis of symptoms are generalized epileptic seizures in the form of absences and episodes of tonic-clonic seizures. Intellectual decline and gross mental disorders are atypical. Diagnostics includes assessment of neurological status and psyche, electroencephalography, MRI of the brain. Monotherapy or combined…

Juvenile Parkinsonism

Juvenile parkinsonism is a genetically determined form of early Parkinsonism, manifesting before the age of 25. Typical features of the clinical picture are symmetry of manifestations, static and kinetic trembling, pyramidal signs, elements of dyskinesia, intellectual preservation. Instrumental diagnostics includes EEG, EMG, brain MRI, PET. Genetic research is carried out: genealogical analysis, DNA diagnostics. Treatment…

Cerebral Echinococcosis

Cerebral echinococcosis is a disease caused by the penetration of echinococcus larvae into the brain with the formation of single or multiple cysts—bubbles. Depending on the location, it is manifested by headaches, epileptic seizures, paresis, visual impairment, mental disorder. The basis for the diagnosis is the presence of a cyst according to tomography, an increasing…

Esthesioneuroblastoma

Esthesioneuroblastoma is a malignant neoplasm of olfactory neuroepithelial cells that occurs in the nasal cavity and spreads rapidly into the paranasal sinuses, the cavity of the eye socket, the latticed bone and the base of the skull. The main symptoms are: nasal congestion, abundant mucous discharge, anosmia, swelling of the zygomatic area. In the diagnosis…

Essential Tremor

Essential tremor is a hereditary type of hyperkinesis, manifested by kinetic and postural trembling of the hands, head, lower jaw, lips, eyelids, vocal cords, less often — legs, trunk. It is diagnosed mainly clinically. The exclusion of secondary tremors is carried out with the help of biochemical analyses, hormonal studies, MRI and CT of the…

Erythromelalgia

Erythromelalgia is a chronic angiotrophoneurosis, manifested by paroxysms of local burning pain with swelling and sharp redness of the skin. As a rule, it occurs in the feet, less often in the hands, the area of the auricles, nose. It can have a primary and secondary character. Pathology is diagnosed according to a typical seizure…

Status Epilepticus

Status epilepticus is one epiprime lasting more than 30 minutes, or a series of seizures of the same duration, between which there is no complete or almost complete restoration of consciousness and normalization of the state. Disease can have a convulsive and non-convulsive form, occur against the background of epilepsy or be symptomatic. Diagnosis is…

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a condition characterized by repeated (more than two) epileptic seizures, not provoked by any immediately identifiable causes. Epileptic seizure is a clinical manifestation of abnormal and excessive discharge of neurons of the brain, causing sudden transient pathological phenomena (sensitive, motor, mental, vegetative symptoms, changes in consciousness). It should be remembered that several epileptic…

Epidural Hematoma

Epidural hematoma is an accumulation of blood that fills the space formed as a result of trauma between the bones of the skull and the dura mater. In typical cases, it is characterized by a violation of consciousness with the presence of a light period, signs of intracranial hypertension and compression of the brain, focal…