How nervous system diseases can impact you

The nervous system is a very important system in your body and plays a huge part in your life. Your nervous system helps you to walk, talk, read, breath, digest food, pump blood and perspire. The nervous system makes this all happen. This system controls all of the different adaptations people need to make in response to their environment, such as sweating on a hot day or concentrating attention during a particularly difficult lecture. "Without the nervous system and its conductor, the brain, people would not experience joy at seeing an old friend or automatically pull their hand away from a hot stove."

Here are some of the common nervous system diseases and how they will affect you.

Bell's Palsy

This disease will lead to the paralysis of the facial nerve, weakness of the muscles of one side of the face and may also result in inability to close your eyes. In some cases, your hearing may also be affected and this will lead to you hearing sounds which seem to be abnormally loud. The loss of taste sensation may also occur.

 

Cerebral Palsy

This disease will affect your sensation, leading to a lack of balance and intelligence, posture and speech are frequently weakened. "Contractures of the limbs may cause fixed abnormalities. Other associated features include epilepsy, visual impairment, squint, reduced hearing and behavioural problems."

 

Motor Neurone Disease

This disease mainly affects the cells of the front horn of the spinal cord, "the motor nuclei in the brainstem, and the corticospinal fibres."

 

Multiple Sclerosis

This disease affects different parts of the brain and spinal cord, resulting in scattered symptoms.

These can include:

·      Ataxia, which leads to unsteady walk and shaky movement of the limbs

·      Nystagmus, which leads to rapid uncontrolled movements of the eyes

·      Dysarthria, which leads to deficiency in speech pronunciation

·      Inflammation of the optic nerve

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)

This disease can lead to extreme disabling fatigue that can last for at least six months and can be made worse by physical or mental exertion. This cannot be resolved with bed rest.

The fatigue is accompanied by at least some of the following: muscle pain or weakness, poor co-ordination, joint pain, sore throat, slight fever, painful lymph nodes in the neck and armpit, depression or the inability to concentrate.

Neuralgia

This disease may lead to a severe burning or stabbing pain.

 

Neuritis

This disease can lead to inflammation of the nerves, which can be very painful.

 

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the brain. Nerve cells use a brain chemical called dopamine to help control muscle movement. Parkinson's disease occurs when the nerve cells in the brain that make dopamine are slowly destroyed. This disease will result in tremor, rigidity and poverty of impulsive movements. The most common symptom is tremor, which often affects your hand, spreading, first, to the leg on the same side and then to the other limbs. It is most profound in resting limbs, which interferes with actions such as holding a cup. The person affected will have an expressionless face, an monotone voice, an increasing tendency to bend forward and a shuffling walk.

 

Sciatica

This disease may cause pain which can be felt down the back and outer side of the thigh, leg and foot. Your back may also feel stiff and painful. There may also be numbness and weakness in your leg.

 

Alzheimer’s

 

Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. The first symptoms are often mistakenly attributed to ageing or stress. Memory problems are typically one of the first warning signs of cognitive loss, possibly due to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. As the disease spreads, symptoms like taking longer to complete normal daily tasks, using poor judgment, and having some mood and personality changes will appear. If the spreading of the disease continues, the person may be in bed most or all of the time as the body shuts down.

 

Encephalitis

Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain. It is usually caused by a foreign substance or a viral infection. When most people catch the viral encephalitis have either no symptoms or mild flu-like symptoms, such as headaches, fever, aches in muscles or joints and fatigue or weakness. Exposure to the viruses may have occurred through breathing in respiratory droplets from an infected person, contaminated food or drink, mosquito, tick, and other insect bites or skin contact. Permanent brain damage may occur in severe cases of encephalitis. It can affect hearing, memory, muscle control, sensation, speech and vision.

Meningitis

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges (membranes) of the brain and spinal cord. It is most often caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Fever, vomiting, and a stiff neck are all symptoms of meningitis. Most people who get meningitis survive, often without any after effects, but sometimes these diseases cause a range of disabilities and problems that can alter people's lives. After effects may be temporary or permanent, physical or emotional. The after effects are memory loss, co-ordination problems, residual headaches, deafness, learning difficulties, seizures, paralysis or spasms of part of body, speech problems, loss of sight.

 

Some of the common symptoms of nervous system diseases are... 

 

Hearing loss or ringing in your ears

Vision loss or vision side effects

Speech difficulties

Changes in taste and smell

Problems with balance, dizziness, vertigo and nausea

Problems with coordination and movement

General weakness that causes an overall lack of strength

Paralysis of different parts of the body

Seizures

Changes in the functioning of organs

Sources:
http://www.humanillnesses.com/Behavioral-Health-A-Br/The-Brain-and-Nervous-System.html
http://www.ivy-rose.co.uk/HumanBody/Nerves/Nervous_Disorders.php
http://www.cancer.net/all-about-cancer/treating-cancer/managing-side-effects/nervous-system-side-effects