Vitamin B-12 is the most chemically complex of all the vitamins, and it is essential to the production of red blood cells, the synthesis of genetic materials and the function of your nervous system. Your nervous system is your body's...
The mineral zinc is vital to the cells of the body for it fulfills several important functions, but the recommended daily allowance depends on the age and sex of the individual taking it. Zinc toxicity can cause several symptoms, and taking too...
The brain stem serves as a “highway” that connects the rest of the brain to the spinal cord and through the spinal cord, to the rest of the body. The brain stem helps regulate breathing, digestion, heart function, sexual function and...
Multiple sclerosis is a disease affecting the nervous system, specifically the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord. It is more common in young adults to middle-aged people and more frequently found in women than men....
A dark spot can appear on an X-ray or scan for any number of reasons. Brain lesions usually are discovered accidentally when you're being diagnosed for an unrelated symptom, according to MayoClinic.com. Dark spots that indicate brain lesions...
Small vessel disease---SVD---of the brain occurs when the small arteries and arterioles in the brain become damaged and deteriorate due to the buildup of plaque, the formation of small tears, or the arteries becoming hard and inflexible. This...
Parkinson's disease causes a significant decrease in dopamine in the brain, resulting in problems with motor function. The dopamine decrease occurs because there's an abnormal destruction of specific neurons that produce the neurotransmitter....
You may not think about how your heart keeps beating or how your lungs keep breathing, but those are crucial activities controlled by your brain stem. Your brain stem is at the base of your skull and atop your spinal cord. Because your brain stem...
Cerebral malaria is a dangerous form of malaria which affects the brain. Cerebral malaria is caused by plasmodium falciparum, a protozoan parasite. Plasmodium falciparum causes ring-like lesions in the brain leading to changes in mental status and...
Adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD disorder, is an inherited disease that affects the nerve pathways. According to The Adrenoleukodystrophy Foundation, 1 in 17,900 boys in the world are affected by the disorder. ALD occurs in adult men but with less...
Alcohol has been linked to the manifestation of anti-social behaviors. Lesions or other types of insults to the brain also result in anti-social behavior. This is known because studies have shown that alcohol has the same effect as lesions on the...
The University of Connecticut Health Center states that almost everyone experiences atrophy of the brain, also called cerebral atrophy. Atrophy of the brain changes the structuring of the brain, specifically an enlargement of the sulci which are...
Approximately 300,000 Americans have multiple sclerosis, according to Dr. Roger Simon, M.D., the director of neurobiology research at Legacy Health Systems in "Clinical Neurology." In most cases, people are between 20 and 40 years old, with two...
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can progress from a mild difficulty with walking and sight to a debilitating or even fatal disease. Demyelination of nerves and lesions on the brain cause a "short circuiting" of electrical impulses to various parts of the...
The redness, pain and swelling associated with inflammation is often treated with over-the-counter medications such as Advil or prescription drugs which have anti-inflammatory actions to help reduce these symptoms. Use of these medications was...
The large and small blood vessels of the body are responsible for the circulation of blood, oxygen and nutrients to the brain and tissues of the body. Diseases of the small blood vessels in the brain results in a eduction in the flow of blood to...
Infant jaundice is a condition marked by high levels of bilirubin in the blood where the whites of the eye and skin turn yellow. When all is functioning properly, bilirubin, a byproduct of old red blood cells, is processed by the liver, excreted...
Parkinson's Disease Foundation posits that individuals with Parkinson's disease--PD--experience an extremely difficult time with sleep/wake cycles and compromised quality of sleep. In most PD cases, the individual does not have one sleep disorder...
Multiple sclerosis, commonly referred to as MS, takes time to diagnose. Once you get a diagnosis, treatments begin. Without insurance, MS can drain your financial savings and cause financial hardship. Health insurance, life insurance and...
Seizures occur when your brain cells send abnormal electrical signals. Temporal lobe seizures occur, or begin, in your brain's temporal lobe. If you have a pattern of recurring seizures, you will likely be diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy and...
Radiation therapy uses high-energy light rays to kill cancer cells. The radiation can be aimed at specific lesions in both the brain and body which may limit some of the damage to normal tissues. Whole or full brain radiation--where the entire...
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates that 400,000 Americans have multiple sclerosis. MS is a chronic, autoimmune disorder that attacks the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. The cause of MS is not known, but MS is more common in...
Eating undercooked pork puts people at risk for becoming infected with a pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, the most dangerous type of tapeworm that exists for humans. This tapeworm can travel to your muscles, liver, heart, lungs, eyes and even your...
Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI as it is commonly known, is widely used to detect brain disorders. Because of the image quality and sensitivity, MRI is currently the best test to evaluate any abnormalities or disorders within the brain. The...
There are several diseases associated with epilepsy. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures or violent muscle spasms....
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines long-term memory loss as difficulty remembering events that occurred further in the past. Long-term memories are formed when short-term memories, or non-permanent memories, are consolidated in the...
Sclerosis means hardened tissue or scar tissue, which in the human body occurs as a result of damage. This scar tissue is not vascular, meaning that blood does not flow through it, and the build-up of scar tissue in organs can change the shape of...
Calcium deposits on the brain -- also known as cranial calcification -- occur when a medical disorder causes your body to deposit calcium in your brain rather than in teeth or bones. Calcium deposits in the brain can cause changes in brain...
Surges in the brain's electrical impulse mechanisms can lead to seizures. While many people experience a single seizure for a host of reasons, you may receive a diagnosis of epilepsy if you have two or more seizures that are unprovoked, or happen...
