Chapter 9 Nervous System Pathology Flashcards
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)
Idiopathic atrophy of neurons in the brain. Neurons are lost forever. Brain physically shrinks.
Is there a test to see if you have AD?
No test. Diagnose thru conversation and family’s experience/concerns
Characteristics of AD? (6)
Forgetting whole experiences
Cannot/rarely can recover memories
Sometimes has random bouts of temporary remembrances
Cannot follow written or oral directions
Unable to use notes as reminders
Gradually unable to care for oneself
Dementia
Precursor to AD or may not progress at all. Grey area between AD and normal aging.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
AKA Lou Gherig’s disease; degeneration of skeletal motor neurons while CNS remains normal. Idiopathic. Unpredictable with no target demographic.
Do nerves regenerate?
No. You have to build the skill again.
Bell’s Palsy
Hemiplegia of the face. Due to inflammation of cranial nerve 7; could be from a virus. Temporary- goes back to normal whenever. Lasting effects even after it goes away.
Cranial nerve 7
Cranial nerve that controls facial motor functions
Cerebral aneurysm
Localized ballooning of vessel in the brain due to weakened wall of blood vessel caused by fat plaque buildup.
Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)
AKA stroke. Loss of blood supply to a portion of the brain due to burst of an aneurysm or a blocked artery.
Two types of CVAs?
Hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke
Hemorrhagic stroke
ruptured aneurysm
Ischemic stroke
Artery is blocked
Coma
Brain turns off everything except vital functions. Way to heal/repair. Can be medically enduced
Concussion? What is a concussion also called?
Bruising/injury to the brain from sports/injury that causes different symptoms depending on which lobe is injured. Frontal and occipital is common. To heal, you have to sit in a dark room, no TV, no reading, etc. AKA TBI (Type of Brain Injury)
Epidural Hematoma (EDH)
Bleeding from trauma in between the dura mater and the skull. Can cause intracranial pressure to increase. Limited space causes brain to be ‘smooshed’ out of the way when lots of blood accumulates. Can also cause swelling. Drill holes or take off parts of skull to treat.
Epilepsy
Disease that causes seizures. Arrhythmia of the brain. Electrical impulses misfire and cause electrical signals to go everywhere, which causes a seizure. Is your brain resetting itself like how you shock the heart to reset it.
Gullain-Barre Syndrome (GB Syndrome)
Inflam. of the PNS post infection that causes progressive muscle weakness that may lead to paralysis. Can last up to 18 months. Not common, no tx.
Myelon
part of neuron that insulates and facilitates electrical impulses. Prevents loss of electrical impulses.
MS
Multiple sclerosis. Autoimmune that causes degen of myelin of neuron. PAINFUL, causes weakness, paralysis.