The New York Times Health Guide reports that multiple sclerosis is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the covering that protects nerve cells. This causes nerve impulses to slow down or stop, resulting in central nervous system symptoms. This...
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a very serious medical condition that can contribute to kidney failure, heart disease, strokes and heart attacks. While diet and exercise can be effective in reducing blood pressure levels, some...
Sodium, potassium and chloride all function as electrolytes in your body and play important functions such as maintaining cellular fluid balance, conducting proper nerve impulses and maintaining normal blood pressure. Your body removes excess...
Muscle fatigue may be caused by a variety of factors. Understanding a few such factors may help determine your overall physical condition, whether you're working out too hard or pushing yourself too far when you exercise. Muscle fatigue may also...
Parkinson's disease strikes fear into the hearts of many at just the mere mention of its name. A chronic neurodegenerative disease, Parkinson's causes your natural nerve impulses to progressively decline, complicating natural controlled movement....
Calcium is a major mineral in your body that helps promote bone growth and repair, cell signaling and communication, and regulation of various metabolic functions in your intestinal tract. The American Cancer Society recommends that you take...
Although they both involve involuntary contractions of muscle tissue, muscle twitches and muscle spasms are different conditions with different causes, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Muscle twitches, also called...
A pheochromocytoma is an adrenal gland tumor located in the center (medulla) of the adrenal gland. It causes the adrenal gland to produce too much adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine). These tumors are usually benign, but...
Vitamins are organic compounds needed in small quantities for vital metabolic processes including muscular contractions. Deficiencies in certain vitamins can cause muscle twitches or spasms and muscular weakness. Most vitamins, including those...
Difficulty moving bowels is termed as constipation. As mentioned by Dr. Praveen Kumar in "Clinical Medicine," constipation is more a perception than a real entity. Constipation affects approximately one in five people. The definition of...
Physicians in India may recommend and prescribe the Indian brand-name drug Lonol in the treatment of high blood pressure. The medication, known by the generic name atenolol, also can help people suffering from angina or heart-related chest pain....
Trigeminal nerve or the fifth nerve carries the sensation to the face. Neuralgia is nerve pain. Trigeminal neuralgia causes facial pain along the path of the nerve and its branches. It is unbearably painful. You will have a sharp, severe and a...
Potassium is a mineral that works as an electrolyte and is involved in both electrical and cellular functions in the body. Potassium is the main positively charged ion within cells and is essential for the transmission of nerve impulses to muscles...
Blood pressure refers to the force exerted by blood on the artery walls as the heart beats. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a condition in which this force becomes too high causing damaging effects to the body. It can lead to coronary...
Cobalamin, or vitamin B-12, plays a number of roles in maintaining your health. It contributes to healthy blood, supports your metabolism and helps activate proteins involved in cancer prevention. Vitamin B-12 also supports a healthy nervous...
The causes of preeclampsia (pregnancy induced hypertension) are not completely understood, says the March of Dimes. Treatment methods for hypertension during pregnancy vary on the overall health of the patient, gestational age and severity of...
The strength in your legs depends upon the strength of your muscles, and muscle strength is the force a muscle exerts against resistance. To maintain and build muscle strength, you must use your muscles regularly. As you age, a decrease in...
More than 600 skeletal muscles in your body act to produce movement. Located in two major areas, your torso and your limbs, the skeletal muscles cause movement at the joints, where the two bones meet. Exercise and proper nutrition maintains a...
The side effects of high potassium levels, or hyperkalemia, are high blood pressure, heart problems and kidney stones. Potassium is an ionic salt necessary for all living things to function; it is essential for brain functions and balances energy...
Muscular back pain is often caused by stiff hip joints and weak abdominal muscles. This causes the nervous system to overstimulate your back muscles for support and movement. Prolonged contraction causes stiffness and tightness. When you stretch a...
Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heartbeat, or arrhythmia, that is characterized by the rapid beating of the upper two chambers of the heart, or the atria. Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia and can lead to heart failure, heart...
The National Institute of Mental Health reports depression as one of the diseases commonly associated with suicide in older adults (see Reference 1). Unfortunately, most depression in the elderly goes unrecognized and untreated. Older adults can...
Temporarily drooping eyelids, also known as transient ptosis, is the most commonly reported side effect of Botox according to the FDA-approved label. Approximately 5 percent of patients who receive Botox experience some degree of sagging in the...
The myelin sheath is a fatty layer that protects nerve cells, extending to cover the nerve throughout its length, except in small, unmyelinated gaps known as the nodes of Ranvier. Myelin aids in accelerating the speed at which an impulse travels...
Anxiety is a high alert state in which your body prepares to face danger or flee. Some people feel anxious even when there is no trigger. Anxiety manifests itself with several physical symptoms, including respiration problems. Breathing exercises...
Your wrists, hands and forearms can develop stiffness and weakness from either overuse or injury. Stretching and strength exercises for the muscles and connective tissues that flex and extend your wrists and hands can help alleviate pain, and...
Erectile dysfunction is also fairly common and has both physical and psychological causes. With erectile dysfunction, a man may experience difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection sufficient for intercourse. Every man may, at some point,...
Neurological disorders occur from damage to any part of the nervous system. In more than 600 neurological disorders, activities affected include speech, breathing, movement, swallowing or the ability to learn. The brain is the central processing...
Eating right is not a complex science. You should not eat more calories than you can burn on a daily basis, and you should make sure those calories offer the best nutrition for your body. Choose wisely from all food groups to balance your meals,...
