Nervous System Flashcards
Cephal/o
Head
Encephal/o
Inside of head, brain (Anencephalic, born without a brain)
Mening/o
Membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord
Myel/o
Spinal cord
Neur/o
Nerve
Dys
Difficult, painful, abnormal
-cele
hernia, abnormal
-pathy
disease, abnormality
-plasia
development, formation, growth
-plegia
paralysis (hemiplegia, paralysis of one side of the body)
Multiple Sclerosis
disease of unknown cause that manifests as multiple ard plaques of degeneration of the insulating layer of nerve fibers in the CNS. Loss of insulation allows “short-circuiting” of nerve impulses. Can cause paralysis, sensory disturbance or blindness
Cerebrovascular accident (CVA)
“stroke”. blood vessel in the brain may burst causing internal bleeding or a clot may arise in a brain blood vessel (thrombus) or arise elsewhere (embolus) and travel to get stuck in a brain vessel which then deprives brain tissue of oxygen. pt may suffer paralysis, loss of speech, loss of vision
Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)
A short period of insufficient blood supply to the brain can have the same signs and symptoms as a stroke such as weakness in arm, partial loss of vision, but the problem lasts less than 24 hours. People who get TIA’s are at increased risk of having a stroke in the future.
Epilepsy
“seizure”
Aphasia
loss of speech, difficulty finding the right word, speaking slowly, can happen if someone suffers a stroke or TBI.
Lumbar (spinal) puncture or tap (LP)
introducing a needle between the lower bony vertebrae allows doctor to sample the fluid, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Used for diagnostic purposes such as meningitis or MS
Brain scan
introducing a radioactive element into the blood can image possible tumors in brain.
Electroencephalography (EEG)
image of brain’s activity. diagnose different seizure disorders, brain tumors, sleep research
Computed tomography (CT)
specialized XR that takes multiple images of a body area, which are turned into slices of the body. resolution is better than an XR and shows better differentiation of types of tissues (bone, air, organs)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
produces slices through the body (no XRs are involved), shows subtle differences in tissue molecular structure producing very high resolution and better differentiation of soft tissue, such as a tumor
