Nervous

Question 1

Traumatic Brain Injury

Answer 1

Risks: Ages under 5 or over 65, motor vehicle accidents for ages 20-24
Causes: Falls(leading cause), sports and physical violence
Prevention: Reducing risks of falls in the house, wearing seatbelts, wearing helmets(contact sports, bicycling, motorcycling)

Question 2

Spinal Cord Injury

Answer 2

Causes: Falls, automobile and motorcycle accidents, sports-related injuries, knife and firearm wounds, swimming in shallow water, severe osteoarthritis, metastatic cancer, herniated discs

Question 3

Epilepsy

Answer 3

Risks: Family history, stroke, brain injury, infections such as meningitis, age(early childhood or after 60)
Causes: Abnormal brain electrical activity

Question 4

Strokes

Answer 4

Risks: Same risk factors as heart disease
Causes: Blood clot, burst blood vessel, aneurysm

Question 5

Trigeminal Neuralgia(Tic Douloureux)

Answer 5

Risks: Age older than 50, younger adults and children may have a chance too
Causes: Unknown, may be related to the demyelination of the trigeminal neurons

Question 6

Bell’s Palsy

Answer 6

Risks: Recent respiratory infections, pregnancy
Causes: Viral infection, immune disorder

Question 7

Bacterial Meningitis

Answer 7

Risks: Close contact
Causes: Streptococcus pneunomiae, Group B streptococci, Neisseria meningitides(meningococcus), Listeria monocytogenes, Haemophilus influenzae type B
Prevention: Vaccine to certain bacteria

Question 8

Viral Meningitis

Answer 8

Causes: Enteroviruses, herpes simplex virus, HIV, West Nile virus, and mumps

Question 9

Encephalitis

Answer 9

Causes: Arboviruses, viruses that cause herpes complex, chickenpox, shingles, West Nile viruses
Prevention: Avoiding mosquitos

Question 10

Poliomyelitis(Polio)

Answer 10

Risks: Lack of vaccination and travel to area with endemic polio
Causes: Polio viruses
Prevention: Polio vaccine

Question 11

Rabies

Answer 11

Risks: People who work with animals such as veterinarians, animal control officers, and wildlife biologists
Causes: Rabies viruses
Prevention: Vaccinating people and animals

Question 12

Shingles(Herpes Zoster)

Answer 12

Risks: Prior chickenpox infections, age
Prevention: Chickenpox vaccine

Question 13

Tetanus

Answer 13

Risks: Not being vaccinated
Causes: Tetanus toxin(produced by bacteria Clostridium tetani)

Question 14

Botulism

Answer 14

Risks: Eating honey(for infants), consuming homecanned foods, injection drug use(heroin etc.)
Causes: Botulinum toxin(produced by Clostridium botulinum)
Prevention: Never feed honey to infants, proper canning of food, never using injection drugs such as heroin
Sources: Infants(Ingesting bacteria or spores from soil or honey), Foodbourne(Improperly canned foods), Wound(Deep, contaminated wounds)

Question 15

Reye Syndrome(RS)

Answer 15

Risks: Infants and children using aspirin during flu and chickenpox infections

Question 16

Alzheimer’s Disease

Answer 16

Risks: Age(half of those over age 85 have AD), siblings with AD
Causes: Unknown, some are considered hereditary

Question 17

Multiple Sclerosis(MS)

Answer 17

Risks: Age(between age 15-50, usually 20-40), women

Question 18

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS)

Answer 18

Risks: Men
Causes: Unknown

Question 19

Parkinson’s Disease

Answer 19

Risks: Age(average onset 60), sex(higher risk in men)
Causes: Unknown, related to reduced levels of dopamine and norepinephrine

Question 20

Essential Tremor

Answer 20

Risks: Age(after age 40), genetics(autosomal recessive gene)

Question 21

Huntington’s Disease

Answer 21

Risks: Parents with HD(50% chance of inheriting), onset age of 40
Causes: Defective gene of chromosome 4 that results in the death of specific neurons in the brain

Question 22

Spina Bifida

Answer 22

Risks: Previous child with spina bifida, linked to folate deficiency(Vitamin B9), maternal obesity and diabetes
Causes: Unknown
Prevention: Folic acid supplementation before and during pregnancy may help prevent it

Question 23

Hydrocephalus

Answer 23

Risks: Having spina bifida, mumps, rubella or syphilis during pregnancy
Causes: Congenital defects in the structure of the brain’s ventricles and vessels, inflammation, infection or trauma lead to accumulation of the CSF in the brain’s ventricles due to an imbalance between the CSF production and drainage

Question 24

Cerebral Palsy

Answer 24

Risks: Preterm birth, breech birth, low birth weight, infant illnesses(meningitis, encephalitis, jaundice), maternal infections(rubella, chickenpox, cytomegalovirus, toxoplasmosis syphilis, and exposure to toxins such as methyl mercury)
Causes: Unknown, probably triggered by infection, inflammation, and/or low oxygen supply to the brain
Prevention: Good prenatal care, healthy diet, avoiding environmental toxins and treating all infections

Question 25

Brain Tumors

Answer 25

Risks: Increasing age, race(high risk in Caucasians), exposure to chemicals and radiation(no evidence linking electromagnetic radiation from overhead wires or cell phones) and family history