Intro to CNS Disorders Flashcards
What is pathogenesis?
the sequence of events from structural changes to clinical manifestations
the development of a health condition
Idiopathic
No known cause
Iatrogenic
Occur as result from medical treatment
Congenital
disease existing at or before birth
Acquired
develops post-fetal
Nosocomial
due to being in hospital environments
Etiology
Definition- the cause
Etiological Agents:
genetic abnormalities
infective agents
chemical
radiation
trauma
malnutrition
Process that underlie pathology
cell injury
inflammation
tissue healing or tissue death
homeostasis
Brain Protection
bones of skull
meninges
blood brain barrier- protects molecules from entering brain
Neurons/Nerve cell
functionally independent of CNS
primary processor of neural signals
neurons don’t divide - THEY CANNOT BECOME TUMORS
Glial Cells (Neuroglia)
typically implicated in disease processes that affect brain tissue
macroglia- astrocytes (provide support) and oligodendrocytes (make myelin)
microglia - immune cells of brain, dormant in absence of infection, scavenger cells that participate in phagocytosis, inflammatory response and immune reactivity
Atrophy Vs. hypertrophy
atrophy- when you break an arm
hypertrophy- when you go to the gym
What is the hallmark of many CNS disorders?
neuronal cell death
Apoptosis
planned or programmed WITHOUT inflammation, normal throughout life
cells shrink, orderly dna fragmentation, caspase activation
ATP required
cell removed by macrophages and no residual damage to CNS
Necrosis
cells swell and explode
disorderly DNA fragmentation
no caspases and no ATP required
WILL be inflammation
necrotic corpse persists
sets off cascade of toxicity
