Nervous System Diseases

Here are the most common problems of the Nervous System:

Alzheimer's Disease:
Alzheimer's Disease causes slow memory loss and difficulties with language and emotions. The loss of these abilities is called dementia. As the disease advances, the person may need help bathing, eating, and going to the bathroom. The disease cannot be cured.

Multiple Sclerosis:
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that occurs when the material around nerve cells in the middle nervous system is damaged. People with Multiple Sclerosis can have symptoms such as difficulties in walking, seeing problems, and pain. The word sclerosis comes from the Greek word "skleros," or hard. In many sclerosis, hard areas called "plaques" develop along the nerve. "Multiple" means the many different areas of the nervous system that may have damaged the nerve.

Huntington's Disease:
Huntington's Disease damages nerves in the area of the brain called the basal ganglia. Symptoms usually appear after age 30. They include dementia, random movements of the body, clumsiness, depression, memory loss and changes in mood. Although there are a few drugs that help with the symptoms, there is no treatment for Huntington's Disease and patients often die in about 15 years.

Parkinson's Disease:
Parkinson's Disease is a neurological disorder that affects mainly those people who are 60 years and older. Although there are drugs to control the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease (such as shaking arms and other movement problems), there is no known cause and no cure for this disease.

Parkinson's Disease happens when neurons lose the ability to function normally in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra. Many of these neurons connect to other neurons. This affects muscle control. Muscles contract and relax, causing shaking called tremors.