Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Understanding Human Disease: Chapter 25 (Nervous System)

Terms in this set (20)

Neural Tube Defects
Incomplete development of brain, spinal cord, and meninges.
Common 2 per 1000 births in US.
Spina Bifida and Anencephaly (missing parts of the brain).
Traumatic Brain Injury
Occurs when brain collides with the inside of the skull. Causes bleeding, bruising, and tearing of nerve fibers.
CNS Trauma
Direct or Indirect: Coup (brain goes toward thing hitting it) Contrecoup (secondary impact).
Penetrating or blunt.
Results: fracture, intraparenchymal injury within brain, vascular injury.
Cerebral Concussion
Most common head injury. Immediate loss of consciousness for seconds to minutes.
Etiology: blunt force impact to head, brain strikes and rebounds from skull, disrupts normal brain activity.
Hemorrhages in Brain
Types: Epidural: Artery, fetal with 24 hours, forms quickly.
Subdural: slow venous bleeding
Subarachnoid: between arachnoid and pia, not as commonly due to trauma. Arterial bleeding. Typically from circle of willis. blood in subarachnoid space.
Intracerebral:
Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury
Mild TBI: bed rest and analgesic
Severe TBI: diuretics, antiseizure and coma-inducing medications; surgery to remove clots, repair fractures, or create an opening to provide space fro brain to swell.
Cerebrovascular Disease
Fourth leading cause of death in US.
Caused by: Hypoxia (CO inhalation), Ischemia (atherosclerosis), Hemorrhagic (rupture of blood vessel).
Cerberovascular accident (CVA) = stroke, brain attack. Sudden spontaneous vascular event in brain.
Cereberovascular accident
Stroke.
Any injury to brain tissue from disturbance of blood supply to brain.
Strokes may occur suddenly or preceded by transient ischemic attacks (TIA).
Outcomes: 1/3 die within first two weeks. 1/3 recover with neurological deficit. 1/3 recover with no deficit - dissolve embolus.
Cerebral thrombosis
Most common form of CVA.
Thrombosis of cerebral artery narrowed by arteriosclerosis.
Cerebral embolus
Occurs less frequently, blockage of cerebral artery by fragment of blood clot from an arteriosclerotic plaque or from heart.
Cerebral hemorrhage
Most serious kind of stroke. Usually from rupture of cerebral artery due to hypertension.
Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA)
Temporary often recurrent episodes of impaired neurological activity resulting from insufficient blood flow to a part of the brain.
Mini stroke.
Dementia
Global, irreversible deterioration of cerebral cortex.
Not normal part of aging.
Losses: orientation, memory, language, judgement, decision making.
Alzheimer's disease
Most common form of dementia.
Irreversible, progressive, chronic.
Unknown etiology.
Atrophy of cortical parts of frontal and temporal parts of brain.
Characteristics: Dementia: progressive loss of cognitive functions; memory, emotional disturbances.
1 in 10 over age 65.
Decreased Ach formation.
Multi-Infarct Vascular Dementia
Cumulative brain damage from small strokes. Second most common cause of dementia. Treated by addressing underlying cause, such as hypertension.
Parkinson's Disease
Subcortical neurodegenerative disorder - basal ganglia.
Cause unknown.
Decreased number of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra.
Disturbances of movement, rigidity, bradykinesia, pill rolling tremor, postural instability.
Treated with drugs that increase dopaminergic activity.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Rare age-associated neurodegenerative disease
Death of alpha motor neurons - affects upper and lower motor neurons: atrophy, paralysis of muscles, respiratory problems.
No treatment or cure.
Cause unknown.
Two forms: sporadic, familial.
Brain Tumors
Metastatic tumors more common than primary tumors.
Primary Tumors:
Gliamoa: mostly poor prognosis with deep location in brain.
Diabetic Neuropathy
Most common cause of neuropathy in developing countries.
Affects 60-70% of diabetics.
Due to prolonged exposure to hyperglycemia.
Guillain-Barre syndrome
Patchy demyelination of nerves with inflammation and sometimes axon degeneration.
Progressive weakness usually followed by complete recovery.
No specific treatment.
Sets found in the same folder