Cerebral Palsy

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Cerebral Palsy

• Cause unknown but may be due to birth injury or
  abnormal brain development
• It is present at birth
• Symptoms include
• Spastic quadriplegia
• Head Rolling
• Grimacing
• Difficulty with speech and
• swallowing
• 
  

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Cerebral Palsy Treatments

• Physical Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Speech Therapy
• No Cure!
• Treat Symptoms!!

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Parkinsons Disease

• Caused by a decrease of the neurotransmitter
  dopamine.
• Etiology is unknown though recent research has
  focused on looking for a specific gene

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Parkinsons Disease

• Symptoms
• Tremors
• Shuffling Gait
• Pill-Rolling
• Muscular Rigidity
• Treatment
• L-dopa and other drugs to
  treat symptoms

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Encephalitis

• Inflammation of the brain
• Cause virus or chemical
• Most common cause is herpes simplex virus that
  leads to hemorrhage of the temporal lobes or
  viruses from mosquitoes or animals
• Symptoms
• Fever
• Lethargy
• Extreme Weakness
• Visual disturbances

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Epilepsy

• Seizure disorder of the brain, characterized by
  recurring and excessive discharge from neurons
• Seizures believed to be a result of spontaneous
  uncontrolled electrical activity of neurons
• Cause Uncertain
• Diagnosed with EEG (electroencephalogram)

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Epilepsy

• Victims may have hallucinations and seizures
• Two types of seizures
• 1. Grand Mal severe, convulsive seizure.
• 2. Petit Mal milder (sometimes like someone is
  just staring)
• Treatment is anticonvulsant medications

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Dementia

• Loss of 2 areas of complex behavior, such as
  language, memory, visual and spatial abilities,
  or judgement
• Interfers with persons daily life.

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Alzheimers Disease

• Progressive disease that begins with problems
  remembering
• Nerve endings in cortex of brain degenerate and
  block signals that pass between nerve cells
• Abnormal fibers build up creating tangles
• Cause is unknown

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Alzheimers Disease

• First Stage (2-4 years)
• Confusion
• Short Term Memory Loss
• Anxiety
• Poor Judgement

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Alzheimers Disease

• 2nd Stage (2-10 years)
• Increase in memory loss
• Difficulty recognizing people
• Motor problems
• Logic problems
• Loss of social skills

• 3rd Stage (1-3 years)
• Inability to recognize oneself
• Weight loss
• Seizures
• Mood swings
• Aphasia

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Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

• Chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS
• Immune cells attack myelin sheath of axon
  myelin sheath destroyed, leaving scar tissue on
  the nerve cells.
• Transmission of impulses blocked
• Cause unknown

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Multiple Sclerosis

• Symptoms
• Weakness of extremities
• Numbness
• Double Vision
• Nystagmus
• Speech problems
• Loss of coordination
• Possible paralysis
• Usually strikes young adults age 20-40, mostly
  women
• Rx Avonex slows progression

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Bells Palsy

• 7th Cranial nerve involved
• Victim seems to have a stroke on one side of the
  face
• Eye does not close properly
• The mouth droops
• Numbness on the effected side
• Cause unknown
• Symptoms disappear within a few weeks

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Trigeminal Neuralgia

• Involves 5th cranial nerve
• Cause unknown
• Onset rapid
• Symptoms - Severe pain brought on by mild
  stimuli that lasts 2-5 seconds
• Rx analgesics or removal of nerve

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Sciatica

• Form of neuritis that affects the sciatic nerve
• May be rupture of lumbar disc or arthritic
  changes
• Symptoms pain which radiates through buttock,
  behind knee and down to foot
• Rx traction, physical therapy, possible surgery

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Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA)

• Stroke or CVA
• Interruption of blood and oxygen to the brain
• Tissue death occurs
• Third leading cause of death in the USA

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Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA)

• Risk Factors
• Smoking
• Hypertension
• Heart Disease
• Family History

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Causes of CVAs

• 90 caused by blood clots in the brain or the
  carotid arteries
• Clots lodge in carotid arteries, blocking the
  flow of blood to the brain
• 10 caused by ruptured blood vessels in the brain

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Symptoms of CVA

• Hemiplegia on opposite side of the body
• Sudden severe headache
• Dizziness
• Sudden loss of vision in one eye
• Aphasia
• Dysphasia
• Coma
• Possible Death

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Treatment of CVA

• 1. Get to the hospital immediately!
• 2. CAT scan done to determine etilology
• 3. If a clot, treatment aimed at dissolving the
  clot usually use TPA.

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Prevention of CVAs

• If TIAs one asprin a day
• Stop smoking
• Exercise and lose weight
• Control hypertension

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Types of Paralysis

• Paralysis Loss of power of motion or sensation
• Hemiplegia paralysis on one side of body
  usually seen with strokes
• Quadriplegia paralysis of all four extremtities
• Paraplegia paralysis of lower extremities only.

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Diagnostic Tests for the Brain

• MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging uses a
  magnetic field along with a radio frequency to
  produce cross-section images of the body.
• Patient inserted into chamber build within a huge
  magnet

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Diagnostic Tests of the Brain

• CAT Scan (Computerized Axial Tomography)
• Combines X-ray emission with nuclear medicine
  produces cross-sectional images

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Diagnostic Tests

• Electroencephalogram (EEG) recording of the
  electrical activity of the brain