Neurological Disorders
Neurological disorders have been diagnosed and treated with some success for many years now. Disorders ranging from Alzheimer's disease to Tourette's Syndrome have been catalogued, identified, and treated. New disorders are diagnosed all the time, however, and sometimes it seems we may never be able to wipe out these diseases of the nervous system. By far the most well known of the neurological disorders, at least in America, is a condition known as Alzheimer's disease. It is infamous not only for it's penchant for striking the elderly, but because we cannot fathom the cause or a working treatment. This disorder carries a certain mystique with it, because it has apparently been around since man could keep written records. In fact, Elaine Landau writes, "Shakespeare wrote about very old age as a time of "second childishness and mere oblivion," suggesting that the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were known and recognized even then" (23). The only thing we know of Alzheimer's disease is that it attacks certain centers of the brain, namely the cerebral cortex, the basal forebrain, and the hippocampus. The cerebral cortex is usually the last thing to be effected, but the hippocampus and the nearby entorhinal cortex are the first vic
Epilepsy can even be brought into recession in some cases, allowing the former patient to live a completely normal life. The stages all have the same basic symptoms, such as loss of muscle tone, speech abnormalities, loss of mental abilities, convulsions or seizures, and dementia. This disorder is another of the modern medical mysteries. During a seizure, the neurons in the brain which will normally fire only approximately eighty times per second will fire as many as five hundred times every second. Parkinson's disease is treated by giving the patient certain chemicals such as Levodopa, which the brain uses to produce dopamine. This disease attacks the motor neurons in the peripheral nervous system, causing slow loss of control over the skeletal muscle system. These symptoms will become more and more severe as the disease progresses, ultimately causing problems with speech and other everyday activities. Abnormalities such as extra fingers or toes, a cleft lip or palate, or an abnormal tongue formation can be typical of someone born with Joubert syndrome. Very little was known about "chorea," except that it caused victims to twist and writhe uncontrollably, and it seemed to be hereditary in nature. Man has known about the existence of neurological disorders since the time of Hypocrates. Unlike many others, however, the specific gene which causes Rett syndrome has been identified. The average life expectancy of an ALS patient, after diagnosis, is about 4 years. There are a few documented cases of what is referred to as Sporadic HD (Huntington's Disease), but these are believed to be caused by mutations in the sperm cell during formation. The gene for Huntington's disease is one of the twenty-two autosomal chromosome pairs, and therefore can be transmitted to any sex child by either parent. The most common in the US is sporadic ALS, which can happen due to a number of factors which are not really understood at this time.
Common topics in this essay:
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Pacific Territories,
Lou Gehrig's,
Elaine Landau,
Rilutek Neurontin,
Tourette's Syndrome,
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rett syndrome,
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born joubert syndrome,
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Acceptance Essays
