Neurological Diseases

Question 1

What is the most common cause of dementia?

Answer 1

Alzheimer’s disease

Question 2

What parts of the brain are affected in Alzheimer’s?

Answer 2

Begins in the hippo-campus and spreads to the cerebral cortex

Question 3

What allele is responsible for Alzheimer’s?

Answer 3

ApOE4

Question 4

Is there a treatment option or cure for Alzheimer’s?

Answer 4

No

Question 5

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Answer 5

A disorder of the central nervous system that affects movement

Question 6

In what gender and race is Parkinson’s most common?

Answer 6

Hispanic males

Question 7

What part of the brain is affected in Parkinson’s disease?

Answer 7

The basal ganglia

Question 8

What does idiopathic mean and what disease is it associated with?

Answer 8

A disease arising spontaneously in which the cause is unknown; Parkinson’s disease

Question 9

What other disease affects the basal ganglia–besides Parkinson’s–in which the nerve cells in the brain breakdown over time and can ultimately lead to death?

Answer 9

Huntington’s disease

Question 10

What is the difference between multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)?

Answer 10

MS is a mild neurological degenerative disease that destroys the protective coating on the nerves in the brain and spinal cord; ALS is a potentially fatal neurological degenerative disease that destroys the nerves in the central nervous system entirely.

Question 11

What are the three types of of cerebral palsy (and what area of the is correlates with each type)?

Answer 11

Spastic (motor cortex), athetoid (basal ganglia), ataxic (cerebellum)

Question 12

What is the third leading cause of death in the US?

Answer 12

Stroke

Question 13

What is the leading cause of disability?

Answer 13

Stroke

Question 14

Describe each type of stroke:

Answer 14

Epidural hematoma (skull fracture), subdural hematoma (abrupt motion of head), subarrachnoid hemorrhage (spontaneous)