Spinal Cord Diseases—Brain Diseases

The brain is the control center of the body. It controls thoughts, memory, speech, and movement. It regulates the function of many organs. When the brain is healthy, it works quickly and automatically. However, when problems occur, the results can be devastating.

Inflammation in the brain can lead to problems such as vision loss, weakness and paralysis. Loss of brain cells, which happens if you suffer a stroke, can affect your ability to think clearly. Brain tumors can also press on nerves and affect brain function. Some brain diseases are genetic. And we do not know what causes some brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

The symptoms of brain diseases vary widely depending on the specific problem. In some cases, damage is permanent. In other cases, treatments such as surgery, medicines, or physical therapy can correct the source of the problem or improve symptoms.

• Basal ganglia dysfunction (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Brain abscess (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Brain surgery (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Central pontine myelinolysis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) collection (Medical Encyclopedia)
• EEG (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hepatic encephalopathy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Pseudotumor cerebri (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia)

Your spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that runs down the middle of your back. It carries signals back and forth between your body and your brain. It is protected by your vertebrae, which are the bone disks that make up your spine. If you have an accident that damages the vertebrae or other parts of the spine, this can also injure the spinal cord. Other spinal cord problems include

• Tumors
• Infections such as meningitis and polio
• Inflammatory diseases
• Autoimmune diseases
• Degenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy

Symptoms vary but might include pain, numbness, loss of sensation and muscle weakness. These symptoms can occur around the spinal cord, and also in other areas such as your arms and legs. Treatments often include medicines and surgery.

• Epidural abscess (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Spinal cord abscess (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Spinal tumor (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Subacute combined degeneration (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Syphilitic myelopathy (Medical Encyclopedia)