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Encephalopathy
Encephalopathy (; from grc, ἐνκέφαλος "brain" + πάθος "suffering") means any disorder or disease of the brain, especially chronic degenerative conditions. In modern usage, encephalopathy does not refer to a single disease, but rather to a syndrome of overall brain dysfunction; this syndrome has many possible organic and inorganic causes. Signs and symptoms The hallmark of encephalopathy is an altered mental state or delirium. Characteristic of the altered mental state is impairment of the cognition, attention, orientation, sleep–wake cycle and consciousness. An altered state of consciousness may range from failure of selective attention to drowsiness. Hypervigilance may be present; with or without: cognitive deficits, headache, epileptic seizures, myoclonus (involuntary twitching of a muscle or group of muscles) or asterixis ("flapping tremor" of the hand when wrist is extended). Depending on the type and severity of encephalopathy, common neurological sym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wernicke–Korsakoff Syndrome
Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is the combined presence of Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) and Korsakoff syndrome. Due to the close relationship between these two disorders, people with either are usually diagnosed with WKS as a single syndrome. It mainly causes vision changes, ataxia and impaired memory. The cause of the disorder is thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. This can occur due to Wernicke encephalopathy, eating disorders, malnutrition, and alcohol abuse. These disorders may manifest together or separately. WKS is usually secondary to prolonged alcohol abuse. Wernicke encephalopathy and WKS are most commonly seen in people with an alcohol use disorder. Failure in diagnosis of WE and thus treatment of the disease leads to death in approximately 20% of cases, while 75% are left with permanent brain damage associated with WKS. Of those affected, 25% require long-term institutionalization in order to receive effective care. Signs and symptoms The syndrome is a combined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wernicke Encephalopathy
Wernicke encephalopathy (WE), also Wernicke's encephalopathy, or wet brain is the presence of neurological symptoms caused by biochemical lesions of the central nervous system after exhaustion of B-vitamin reserves, in particular thiamine (vitamin B1). The condition is part of a larger group of thiamine deficiency disorders that includes beriberi, in all its forms, and alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome. When it occurs simultaneously with alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome it is known as Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome. Classically, Wernicke encephalopathy is characterised by a triad of symptoms: ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and confusion. Around 10% of patients exhibit all three features, and other symptoms may also be present. While it is commonly regarded as a condition peculiar to malnourished people with alcohol misuse, it can be caused by a variety of diseases. It is treated with thiamine supplementation, which can lead to improvement of the symptoms and often complete resolution, particul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syndrome
A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms which are correlated with each other and often associated with a particular disease or disorder. The word derives from the Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a syndrome is paired with a definite cause this becomes a disease. In some instances, a syndrome is so closely linked with a pathogenesis or cause that the words ''syndrome'', ''disease'', and ''disorder'' end up being used interchangeably for them. This substitution of terminology often confuses the reality and meaning of medical diagnoses. This is especially true of inherited syndromes. About one third of all phenotypes that are listed in OMIM are described as dysmorphic, which usually refers to the facial gestalt. For example, Down syndrome, Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome, and Andersen–Tawil syndrome are disorders with known pathogeneses, so each is more than just a set of signs and symptoms, despite the ''syndrome'' nomenclature. In other instances, a synd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neurology
Neurology (from el, wikt:νεῦρον, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine), medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal cord and the peripheral nerves. Neurological practice relies heavily on the field of neuroscience, the scientific study of the nervous system. A neurologist is a physician specializing in neurology and trained to investigate, diagnose and treat neurological disorders. Neurologists treat a myriad of neurologic conditions, including stroke, seizures, movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, autoimmune neurologic disorders such as multiple sclerosis, headache disorders like migraine and dementias such as Alzheimer's disease. Neurologists may also be involved in clinical research, clinical trials, and basic research, basic or translational research. While neurology is a nonsurgical sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ataxia
Ataxia is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in eye movements. Ataxia is a clinical manifestation indicating dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum. Ataxia can be limited to one side of the body, which is referred to as hemiataxia. Several possible causes exist for these patterns of neurological dysfunction. Dystaxia is a mild degree of ataxia. Friedreich's ataxia has gait abnormality as the most commonly presented symptom. The word is from Greek α- negative prefix+ -τάξις rder= "lack of order". Types Cerebellar The term cerebellar ataxia is used to indicate ataxia due to dysfunction of the cerebellum. The cerebellum is responsible for integrating a significant amount of neural information that is used to coordinate smoothly ongoing movements and to participate in motor planning. Although a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis
Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is a type of encephalitis, brain inflammation caused by antibodies. Early symptoms may include fever, headache, and feeling tired. This is then typically followed by psychosis which presents with delusions, false beliefs (delusions) and hallucinations, seeing or hearing things that others do not see or hear (hallucinations). People are also often agitated or confused. Over time seizures, hypoventilation, decreased breathing, and autonomic instability, blood pressure and heart rate variability typically occur. About half of cases are associated with tumors, most commonly teratomas of the ovaries. Another established trigger is herpesviral encephalitis, while the cause in others cases is unclear. The underlying mechanism is autoimmune disease, autoimmune with the primary target the GluN1 subunit of the N-methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) in the brain. Diagnosis is typically based on finding specific antibodies in the cerebral spinal fluid. MRI of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confabulation
In psychology, confabulation is a memory error defined as the production of fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world. It is generally associated with certain types of brain damage (especially aneurysm in the anterior communicating artery) or a specific subset of dementias. While still an area of ongoing research, the basal forebrain is implicated in the phenomenon of confabulation. People who confabulate present with incorrect memories ranging from subtle inaccuracies to surreal fabrications, and may include confusion or distortion in the temporal framing (timing, sequence or duration) of memories. In general, they are very confident about their recollections, even when challenged with contradictory evidence. Description Confabulation is distinguished from lying as there is no intent to deceive and the person is unaware the information is false.Moscovitch M. 1995. "Confabulation". In (Eds. Schacter D.L., Coyle J.T., Fischbach G.D., Mesulum M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anterograde Amnesia
In neurology, anterograde amnesia is the inability to create new memories after the event that caused amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact. This is in contrast to retrograde amnesia, where memories created prior to the event are lost while new memories can still be created. Both can occur together in the same patient. To a large degree, anterograde amnesia remains a mysterious ailment because the precise mechanism of storing memories is not yet well understood, although it is known that the regions of the brain involved are certain sites in the temporal cortex, especially in the hippocampus and nearby subcortical regions. Signs and symptoms People with anterograde amnesic syndromes may present with widely varying degrees of forgetfulness. Some with severe cases have a combined form of anterograde and retrograde amnesia, sometimes called global amnesia. In the case of drug-i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retrograde Amnesia
In neurology, retrograde amnesia (RA) is a loss of memory-access to events that occurred or information that was learned in the past. It is caused by an injury or the onset of a disease. It tends to negatively affect episodic, autobiographical, and declarative memory, while keeping procedural memory intact without increasing difficulty for learning new information. RA can be temporally graded, or more permanent based on the severity of its cause. It is usually consistent with Ribot's law. The law states that subjects are more likely to lose memories closer to the traumatic incident than more memories that happened further from the incident.Wixted, J. T. (2004). The psychology and neuroscience of forgetting, ''Annual Review of Psychology'', ''55'', 235–69. The type of information that is forgotten can range from a specific memory, such as a single event, or a more general memory. This would resemble generic amnesia. Anterograde amnesia is a similar condition that deals with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apnea
Apnea, BrE: apnoea, is the temporal cessation of breathing. During apnea, there is no movement of the muscles of inhalation, and the volume of the lungs initially remains unchanged. Depending on how blocked the airways are ( patency), there may or may not be a flow of gas between the lungs and the environment, but if there's sufficient flow, gas exchange within the lungs and cellular respiration wouldn't be severely affected. Voluntarily doing this is called holding one's breath. Apnea may first be diagnosed in childhood, and it is recommended to consult an ENT specialist, allergist or sleep physician to discuss symptoms when noticed; malformation and/or malfunctioning of the upper airways may be observed by an orthodontist. Cause Apnea can be involuntary—for example, drug-induced (such as by opiate toxicity), mechanically / physiologically induced (for example, by strangulation or choking), or a consequence of neurological disease or trauma. During sleep, people with sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypercapnia
Hypercapnia (from the Greek ''hyper'' = "above" or "too much" and ''kapnos'' = "smoke"), also known as hypercarbia and CO2 retention, is a condition of abnormally elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the blood. Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the body's metabolism and is normally expelled through the lungs. Carbon dioxide may accumulate in any condition that causes hypoventilation, a reduction of alveolar ventilation (the clearance of air from the small sacs of the lung where gas exchange takes place) as well as resulting from inhalation of CO2. Inability of the lungs to clear carbon dioxide, or inhalation of elevated levels of CO2, leads to respiratory acidosis. Eventually the body compensates for the raised acidity by retaining alkali in the kidneys, a process known as "metabolic compensation". Acute hypercapnia is called acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) and is a medical emergency as it generally occurs in the context of acute illness. Chronic hypercapnia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apneustic Respirations
Apneustic respiration ( a.k.a. apneusis) is an abnormal pattern of breathing characterized by deep, gasping inspiration with a pause at full inspiration followed by a brief, insufficient release. Presentation Accompanying signs and symptoms may include decerebrate posturing; fixed, dilated pupils; coma or profound stupor; quadriparesis; absent corneal reflex; negative oculocephalic reflex; and obliteration of the gag reflex. Causes It is caused by damage to the pons or upper medulla caused by strokes or trauma. Specifically, concurrent removal of input from the vagus nerve and the pneumotaxic center causes this pattern of breathing. It is an ominous sign, with a generally poor prognosis. It can also be temporarily caused by some drugs, such as ketamine Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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