Cervical myelopathy (CM) was first described by Lees and Turner as a group of symptoms followed by long periods of deterioration or improvement and from Clarke and Robinson as a configuration of decreasing function[1]. Indeed, CM is a progressive pathologic state based on reduction of the spinal canal followed by cord dysfunction and in some cases paralysis. It is linked to spinal cord compression or ischaemia and degenerative changes. As a result there is an injury of the spinal cord, of the vascular and nerve function. Surgical treatment is suggested to improve the quality of life. Epidemiology and pathogenesis Stated on different studies CM appears more often at level C5-C6, C6-C7, followed by C4-C5 level and rarely at C3-C4. Although, …show more content…
90% of the asymptomatic, > 60 years old, have degenerative changes of the cervical spinal canal[4]. About 60% of them have disk degeneration and 28% cervical foraminal stenosis after the age of 40[5]. Study by Northover et.al.[6] .suggests that CM is diagnosed more often in males and at average age of 63.8. Women are affected on earlier age but not as often as men. Other studies suggested that the ethnicity plays role for the occurrence of CM[7]. A difference was found of the sagittal diameter in European and Japanese. Important to the manifestation of CM is also the primary condition of the patient, such as cognitive diseases that cause narrowing of the spinal canal. In those cases there is a greater risk of developing symptomatic CM at early stage of life[8]. It has been reported many common causes of CM and some rare such as brown tumour, secondary to extramedullar intradural plexiform neurofibroma, posttraumatic pseudomenigocele, epidural IgD myeloma, anterior arachnoid cyst, myelopathy due to vitamin B12 deficiency, cervical dystonia mucolipidoses, adrenomyeloneuropathy[9-17](figure 1.). The result, however, is narrowing of the spinal canal and compression leading to damage of the nerves, vessels and spinal
warm) in the left upper and lower extremities; decreased strength and movement of the right upper and lower extremities and of the left abdominal muscles; lack of triceps and biceps reflexes in the right upper extremity; atypical response of patellar, Achilles (hyper) reflexes in the right lower extremity; abnormal cremasteric reflex in the right groin; fracture in cervical vertebrae #7; and significant swelling in the C7-T12 region of the spinal canal (Signs and symptoms, n.d.). The objective complaint of a severe headache could also be consistent with a spinal cord injury (Headache, nausea, and vomiting,
Tests after tests including MRI’s, X-rays, and experimental procedures were performed to show I had five ruptured disks in the lower lumbar section of my back. Tedious Examination done by a group of doctors concluded I had a crippling disease of the spinal column called spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal that causes compression of the spinal cord. (Lohr,1) If this disease was ignored any longer, it would lead to many other problems affecting other areas of my back to help support this weakness. It was an extremely rare case for an athlete my age.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, in which the myelin that covers the nerves is somehow eaten away and scar tissue for multiple sclerosis in its place, interrupting the nerve’s signals. This disease has an unpredictable and uncontrollable course which leads to the loss of vision, hearing, speech, the ability to walk, control of bladder and bowels, sensitivity to touch, vibration and pain, potency and coordination of movements. The list of possibilities is lengthy and horrifying.
It is the arrest of second cranial nerve because of vascular disorder, either vasculitic or artheroclerotic. Subacute or sudden monocular vision loss may resemble optic neuritis as in multiple sclerosis. The disease is commonly affecting elderly patients (more than 50 years) with lipid plaques risk factors. However, no other symptom of multiple sclerosis is seen. Normal cerebrospinal fluid and MRI scanning are evident.
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a condition marked by impaired muscle coordination and other disabilities, which causes damage to the brain before and during birth. Cerebral palsy is a static disorder of the brain, not a progressive disorder. This mean that the disorder or disease process will not get worse as time goes on. Nor are the motor disorders associated with cerebral palsy temporary. (Miller and Bachrach pg. 3) Cerebral Palsy affects the nervous system by having dysfunctions, in movements such as, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking. During the first 3 to 5 years of a child's life Cerebral Palsy occur because the baby's brain is still developing. (CP is one of the most common congenital (existing before birth or at birth) disorders of childhood). Spastic, athetoid, ataxic and dystonic are all different types of Cerebral Palsy. Majority of circumstances with children having CP are unknown, then again numerous results show problems during pregnancy in which the brain is damaged or doesn't develop normally. “This can be due to infections, maternal health problems, a genetic disorder, or something else that interferes with normal brain development.” Cerebral palsy is also caused by injuries and abnormalities of the brain; as the baby grows in the womb these problems occur. Some causes may lead to problems with brain development which include:
Dr. Zamboni named this problem Chronic Cerebro- Spinal Venous Insuffiency, CCSVI. Right away he scheduled the operation for his wife. A catheter was sent all the way up to the problem area and a balloon is opened and clears the blockage. Three years after the operation, his wife has not had any attacks of MS.
Dr. William Little wrote the first medical description of the disorder in the 1860’s. He thought most cases of CP were caused by complications at birth resulting in lack of oxygen to the brain. Cerebral Palsy was called Little's disease for many years. CP refers to neurological disorders that appear in early childhood and affect movement and coordination (“Cerebral Palsy: Hope”). Although CP is caused by damage to the motor areas of the brain and affects body movement and muscle coordination, it is not caused by problems in the muscles o...
With motor neurone disease it attacks the nerves, in the brain and spinal cord. This means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting. In the case study the
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10459279.
..., Ducker, T.B., ….. Young, W. (1997). International Standards for Neurological and Functional Classification of Spinal Cord Injury: International Medical Society of Paraplegia, 35, 266 – 274.
Patients whose lesion is in the Cerebrum & Cerebellum will experience loss of balance and coordination, difficulty speaking, and frequent limb trembles. Speech difficulties vary from slurred words, long pause between words, and swallowing problems. Patients whose lesion is in the Motor nerve tracts will experience weakened and stiffened muscles, blurred vision or vision impaired, and urinary problems. Weakened and stiffened muscles causes walking disabilities and painful feeling of muscle spasms in 6 to 10 people. Patients whose lesion is in the Sensory nerve tract will experience sensory alternations, fatigue, cognitive and emotional dysfunction, and loss of sexual interest. Difference sensations experienced are numbness, itching, burning, stabbing, or tearing pains.
However, many of our questions still remain. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the physical aspect of gender differences in humans, otherwise known as sexual dimorphism, it’s evolutionary history in our species, and some behavioral and societal trends that are associated with it. To accomplish this, I will begin by outlining the anatomical structures that are commonly used in measuring sexual dimorphism in our species. After establishing these criteria, I will expand upon the evolutionary history of sexual dimorphism in humans beginning with the anthropoids in the Oligocene and ending with present day trends.
Simple musculoskeletal back pain has symptoms of pain in the lumbrasacral area of the back (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). The upper thighs and knees are also known to be affected (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). This pain is usually described as a dull pain (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). Spinal nerve root pain is localised down the leg, and usually continues below the knee and into the feet (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). It has been d...
Demyelination is a disintegrated of the myelin sheath cause by an inflammatory and destruction process, the axon being partly or completely denuded. The features of multiple sclerosis lesions are perivascular inflammation followed by myelin depletion, oligodendrocytes loss and astroglial proliferation. The initial stage characterized by the accumulation of inflammatory cells, lymphocytes and monocytes around venules within the CNS. Inflammation may cause a function block in conduction through myelinated axons. Next, there is active destruction of the oligodendrocyte and its myelin sheath as a result of contact with macrophanges and microglia . This followed by depletion of oligodendrocytes in which denuded axons re seen within the lesion. Finally, the lesion heals by scar formation dependent upon astrocytic reactivity, producing hardened patches or plaques from which the disease gets its name. the most common side of plaques are in the boundary grey matter in the cerebellum, cerebellar white matter, optic nerves, cervical portion of spinal cord and brain stem.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an acquired demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that typically is diagnosed in the second or third decade of life. Normally, nerves are enclosed in myelin sheaths that help facilitate transmission of nerve impulses within the CNS and the peripheral nervous system throughout the body. In patients with MS, the myelin sheath is damaged and eventually degenerates, causing patches of scar tissue called plaques or lesions to occur anywhere randomly on the myelin sheath (Ruto, 2013). This results in impaired nerve conductivity, which interferes with message transmission between the brain and the other parts of the body. As a result, impulse transmission is altered, distorted, short-circuited, or completely absent. This interference in impulse transmission creates muscle weakness, muscle imbalance, and possibly muscle spasms with partial or complete paralysis. Multiple sclerosis also can result in visual impairment and alteration of cognitive abilities, as well as pain, numbness, or tingling sensations (Ruto, 2013).