Nerve cells throughout the brain and body are covered in a white, waxy coating known as the myelin sheath. Its function is to allow conduction of nerve impulses between cells, working in much the same way as the insulating coating on a wire does....
The myelin sheath plays an important role in your nervous system. It covers your nerves, helping to transmit signals from neuron to neuron. When the myelin sheath becomes damaged, you can have problems with several different functions. For...
The myelin sheath is part of the nervous system. It functions to protect and insulate the nerves of the brain and spinal cord. It also allows the body to communicate via nerve impulses. The myelin sheath is produced by neuroglia, specialized cells...
The myelin sheath, which covers the axon of the neuron, performs important functions for neural communication. In the central nervous system, or the brain and spinal cord, oligodendrocytes make up the myelin sheath, while Schwann cells make up the...
The myelin sheath is a layer that covers and protects nerves in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin is made from a fatty, permeable substance and its primary function is to transmit impulses along the nerve cells that control various bodily...
Your nervous system contains a fatty substance, known as myelin, which provides insulation for your brain and spinal cord, and the nerves that course through your body. Fat comprises 60 percent of your gray matter, the nerve cells and processes,...
Many of your nerves are covered with a fatty myelin sheath to speed up the transmission of nerve impulses to and from your brain. Certain nutrients are essential for proper myelin sheath formation, and a healthy diet might also support your...
Some of nerves have a protective covering around them called myelin. Myelin is important as it increases the speed of the signals that your nerves send. Therefore, diseases that destroy the myelin sheath or interferes with its metabolism will...
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...
Brains are mostly made up of fat. The protective sheath of neurons is 70 percent fat. Neuron membranes are also made up of "a thick double-layer of fatty acid molecules," according to the Franklin Institute Online. Neurons are cells dedicated to...
Vitamin B-12 is the most common vitamin deficiency in the United States, according to the online version of "Disorders of the Nervous System" by Drs. Alexander G. Reeves and Rand S. Swenson of Dartmouth Medical School. Vitamin B-12 plays...
Your nervous system is a finely tuned machine, able to process feedback and send out signals in milliseconds. Whether you have to think about it or not, your brain is constantly sending signals to the rest of your body to regulate your heart rate,...
Each day, the millions of nerves that make up your nervous system send billions of electrical impulses that help maintain your health and support your day-to-day activities. One key component essential to nerve function is myelin, a highly...
Myelin, a fatty substance, insulates your nerves and makes nerve impulse conduction faster and more efficient. Trauma and some health conditions can degrade or damage myelin. Certain foods contain building blocks from which your body can...
The myelin sheath is a layer of insulation made up of fatty substances and protein that surrounds nerve cell fibers. The myelin sheath allows the nerve cells to transit impulses through the body quickly and efficiently. Demyelinating diseases are...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating disease where the immune cells of your body break down myelin, the protective covering around your nerves. Myelin protects the signal that goes through your nerves and speeds up its transmission. According...
Krabbe disease, an inherited disorder resulting in progressive damage to the nervous system, is caused by a deficiency in the enzyme galactocerebrosidase, abbreviated GALC. Galactocerebrosidase is necessary for normal growth and development of...
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune disease that causes damage to your central nervous system. If you have MS, your immune system attacks the myelin surrounding your nerve cells. This leads to symptoms including difficulty walking, pain...
The white matter of the brain contains nerve fibers (axons), interstitial space and supporting cells. Most of these nerve fibers--specifically, axons--are covered with myelin, a type of fat that insulates nerve fibers and increases the speed of...
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a potentially debilitating disease in which the body's immune system destroys the protective sheath, called myelin, that covers the nerves. This causes a breakdown in communication between the brain, the spinal cord...
Demyelinating processes, or diseases, are conditions characterized by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective sheath that covers nerves within the central nervous system, according to MayoClinic.com. As the myelin sheath becomes damaged,...
Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease that targets nerve cells. It is classified as an autoimmune disease, wherein the immune system attacks the central nervous system and causes damage in the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. Research...
Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the immune system destroys myelin, a substance that surrounds the nerves of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord. Myelin also quickens the transmission of impulses through...
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a disease in which the body’s immune system eats away at myelin, which is the protective covering over the nerves, states MayoClinic.com. Myelin speeds up nerve signal transmission, and protects the signal as it...
The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body. It originates in the lower back and enters your lower extremities through what is known as the sciatic notch. Your sciatic nerve is responsible for carrying sensory information from your lower...
Demyelinating diseases are medical conditions that damage the myelin sheath that protects the brain, spinal cord and other parts of the central and peripheral nervous systems. These diseases can cause progressive neurological difficulties, which...
Multiple sclerosis or MS is a degenerative disease that degrades the myelin sheaths surrounding nerves in the brain, optic nerve and spinal cord. At the time of publication, there was no cure for MS. Treatment focuses on improving quality of life,...
Peripheral neuropathy is a condition caused by damage to the nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. These nerves, which make up the peripheral nervous system, allow the brain to send signals to the body and the body...
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...
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease where the myelin sheaths, the coverings for the nerves around the central nervous system, become infected. In this video, learn more about MS, its effects on people, and how it may be treated.
