Nervous system diseases are neurological disorders affecting the entirety of the nervous system. These conditions affect the function of the Central Nervous System’s neurons in the tracts in the Spinal Cord or the whole brain or just one part of the brain, like the Brain Stem consisting of the Midbrain, Medulla Oblongata or Pins, Basal Ganglia, cerebrum or cerebellum. In addition, some conditions also involve the dysfunctioning of the Peripheral Nervous System consisting of nerve roots, peripheral nerves, spinal plexuses, cranial nerves, nuclei, autonomic nervous system, neuromuscular junctions, and muscles.
Neurological disorders directly affect your brain-correlated systems. Each nervous system disorder has different causes, effects, and treatments. The nervous system works as a coordinator between the brain and other parts of your body. It sends signals from your brain to the rest of your body and vice versa. Many body functions depend on the correct function of your nervous system. This system helps you to process and respond to various environmental and internal factors.
Many nervous system diseases or neurological disorders can impact your nervous system or any of its parts. Through this article, you may get familiar with different types of neurological disorders, how they affect your brain or its connected parts, and how you can manage conditions.
What is Meant by the Nervous System?
Your nervous system is an intricate network of nerves and neurons extending from the brain to the spinal cord. Thousands of nerve branches spread out to all parts of the body, the nerve branches are also known as the peripheral nervous system. These two systems work together to control your voluntary activities, such as your senses, movement, communication, and thinking, and involuntary activities, including heartbeat, growth, information processing, and breathing.
However, damage to the nerves of this system due to any illness, genetic issue, or injury can cause severe discomfort, lasting pain, reduced quality of life, and disability. Neurological disorders are of many types ranging from common nervous problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome to more complicated diseases caused due to malignancy or a traumatic injury.
While studying the structure of your nervous system, you will find that your nervous system is divided into two parts:
Central Nervous System: this system is composed of your brain and spinal cord. Its basic function is to analyze and respond to internal and environmental stimuli. This is in fact, your body’s major communication hub.
Peripheral Nervous System: this system consists of the rest of the nerve tissues outside of your spinal cord and brain, it carries information from your central nervous system to the rest of your body and vice versa. It is further subdivided into two parts:
Somatic Nervous System: this part of your peripheral nervous system works as a signal transmitter and sends signals to your skeletal muscles to move a fraction of things and factors in your environment.
Autonomic Nervous System: this nervous system controls your involuntary nervous system, including, digestion, blood pressure, breathing rate, and heart rate.
Working of the Nervous System
Nerve cells present in your nervous system called neurons help send signals, or messages, all over your body. These are electrical signals that travel among your brain, muscles, organs, glands, and skin.
These messages or signals instruct you about your limb movements and feeling sensations like cold, hot, or pain. Nerves present in your sensory organs(eyes, nose, tongue, ears, and skin) and all over the body take information about your environment. After analyzing these signals, nerves carry the information to and from your brain.
Different types of neurons constitute your nervous system. Each type has a specific job to do:
Motor Neurons receive signals from your brain and spinal cord and deliver them to your muscles. They produce movements in your body. They also help in speaking, swallowing, and breathing.
Sensory Neurons receive information from your sensory organs or senses (touch, taste, smell, hear, and see) and bring them back to your brain.
Inter-Neurons work as both motor and sensory neurons. They communicate between the both of them. They also coordinate and help regulate your movement in response to sensory information like moving your hand away from a hot surface and play a pivotal role in how you remember, learn, and think.
Different Types of Nervous System Diseases
More than 650 neurological disorders can impact your nervous system. According to studies, a large number of people are affected by these diseases every year and their number is increasing from 2000 to till date. The main reason for this rapid increase is an aging population. The most impacting nervous disorders are:
- Alzheimer’s disease.
- Different types of Dementia.
- Stroke.
- Migraine.
Each type of neurological disease has further subdivisions which have been described below, along with examples of common diseases for each type of disease.
Neurodegenerative Diseases
When your nerve cells stop working properly or are going to die off, you may suffer from a neurodegenerative disease. Sometimes, it happens due to the accumulation of inflammatory cells or abnormal proteins in your brain. The actual cause of such changes is still unclear. These conditions go to progress. That means they continue to get worse as time passes.
The common examples of neurodegenerative diseases are:
- Parkinson’s disease.
- Alzheimer’s disease and some other types of dementia.
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Nervous System Injuries
Injuries to the nervous system, sound weird? Yes, injuries to your nervous system are possible. Such types of injuries usually happen due to sudden accidents, acts of violence, or sports injuries. Injuries to your central nervous system also include spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries can lead to certain physical symptoms, such as:
- Loss of consciousness.
- Dizziness.
- Vision loss.
- Headache.
- Seizures.
- Weakness.
They can also cause problems in your mood, memory, and cognition.
In addition, spinal cord injuries can cause symptoms, including:
- Paralysis or muscle weakness.
- Pain.
- Tingling or numbness.
Nerves in your PNS can also be injured but it would happen when your nerves are lacerated, inflamed, compressed, or stretched. Its symptoms include:
- Muscle weakness or paralysis.
- Neuropathic pain.
- Numbness and tingling.
Demyelinating Diseases
A protective layer covers the nerves and nerve cells in your CNS, called Myelin. In these diseases, the myelin sheath is damaged, which leads to symptoms, such as problems with vision, muscle weakness, and unusual sensations.
Multiple sclerosis is a type of demyelinating disease. It occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath of nerve cells. The causes of this unusual attack from the immune system are unknown.
Some common examples of demyelinating diseases are:
- Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.
- Transverse myelitis.
- Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.
- guillain-Barre syndrome.
- Diabetic neuropathy.
Cerebrovascular Disease
This disease impacts blood flow to your brain causing Cerebrovascular disease. Bleeding in the brain cells, due to lack of oxygen-rich blood, causes this neurological disorder.
Research has confirmed that Stroke is an example of cerebrovascular disease which is caused by an interruption of blood flow to a region of your brain, such as due to a blood clot, or bleeding in the brain. Analysis reports declared that hemorrhagic stroke is the leading cause of death in the country. Other types of this disease include:
- Brain aneurysm.
- Vascular malformations.
Headache Disorders
Most people experience headaches from time to time. The frequent occurrence of severe and frequent headaches may indicate that you have a headache disorder. Such headaches are caused when pain-sensitive nerves react to a trigger, sending pain signals to your brain. Common triggers for headache disorder are:
- The consumption of alcoholic beverages.
- Dehydration.
- Stress.
- Eyestrain.
- Lack of sleep.
Common types of this disease include:
- Tension-type headache.
- Migraine.
- Cluster headache.
Headaches often happen due to some other conditions. That’s why they are called secondary disorders. Some known causes of headache disorders are head injuries, stroke, and brain tumors.
Seizure Disorder
A period of uncontrolled electrical activity in your brain leads to a seizure. Seizures further result in involuntary movements, sensations, or thoughts. Sometimes, the seizures are intense and cause loss of consciousness or awareness.
Research showed that in Epilepsy one or more unprovoked seizures occur. According to an analysis report, around three million people in the country have epilepsy, and more than half of epilepsy patients don’t know the actual cause of their condition. However, in some people, the cause is diagnosed as a brain tumor, a traumatic brain injury, or a stroke.
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Disruption of the development of your nervous system causes neurodevelopmental disorders. A variety of functions of your body can be influenced by these disorders. You may have trouble in:
- Motor skills.
- Learning.
- Communication and speech.
- Behavior.
- Memory.
Neurodevelopmental disorders are also linked with congenital conditions somehow. But in most of the cases, the actual trigger is unknown. Possible factors may be:
- Physical trauma.
- Infections.
- Genetics.
- Social deprivation.
- Environmental toxins.
- Immune System Dysfunction.
- Metabolic disorders.
- Infections.
Other examples of neurodevelopmental disorders include:
- Intellectual disabilities.
- Autism spectrum disorders.
- Dyslexia.
- Tourette’s syndrome.
- Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Genetic Disorders
Inherited neurological disorders can be passed down from one or both of your parents. These disorders can impact your nervous system and overall health in many ways. Common examples of inherited neurological disorders and their symptoms include:
Wilson Disease: It causes copper to accumulate in your brain and other organs. It also leads to problems with your movement, coordination, and speech.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: This disease attacks your peripheral nervous system, causing problems with your gait, leading to atrophy and muscle weakness.
Spinal Muscle Atrophy: This is a hereditary condition that is categorized into different classes due to its severity. Spinal nerve damage leads to muscle weakness.
Huntington’s Disease: This disease causes the progressive breakdown of nerves in your brain. Worsening problems with behavior, cognition, and movement are linked with this disease.
Friedrich’s Ataxia: This disorder progressive nervous system decline that can lead to movement problems.
Tay-Sachs disease: Accumulation of excess fatty substances in your brain and nerves causes muscle weakness, speech loss, and seizures.
Congenital Conditions
Congenital disorders are the nervous diseases that you’re born with. These disorders occur due to developmental problems during your development process in the womb. The most common congenital condition is the defect in the neural tube. If the neural tube, a precursor to the central nervous system, doesn’t close properly early in development, congenital disorder occurs. Neural tube defects generally affect your physical and intellectual abilities. Anencephaly and spina bifida are common examples of this condition. More examples of the condition include:
Megalencephaly: In this condition, your brain becomes larger than the normal size.
Microcephaly: In this condition, your head size remains smaller than normal.
Focal Cortical Dysplasia: This condition affects the functioning of your brain and causes abrupt seizures.
When to Seek Medical Help?
Neurological disorders symptoms vary widely. Thus it is hard to diagnose a nervous system disease by observing its symptoms only. Therefore, it is suggested to see a doctor or neurological expert professional if you experience symptoms, such as:
- Dizziness that keeps coming back.
- Changes in memory or learning skills, and mood swings that affect your daily life adversely.
- Recurring or persistent headaches.
- Lasting muscle weakness.
- Difficulty with movements, like muscle twitching, tremors, or difficulty in walking.
- Tingling or numbness.
- Chronic pain.
However, some symptoms indicate more dangerous conditions. Get immediate medical attention right away, if you experience any of the following:
- A first-time seizure.
- Sudden problems with vision.
- Sudden occurrence of headaches that become severe over time.
- A head injury.
- Muscle weakness or numbness, that often affects only one side of your body.
- Severe headaches appear with a stiff neck or fever.
Conclusion
The nervous system is a control center of your body that commands your different body parts to perform different functions. It Controls your learning, remembering, thinking, speaking, and all types of movements. Your nervous system is composed of a vast network of nerves and neurons that are connected with all of your muscles, glands, and organs.
Sometimes, unexpected events affect your nervous system in a way that it gets disturbed and you suffer from a nervous system disease. Sudden head injuries, infections, or underlying conditions usually cause neurological disorders. In such cases, the first thing is to get immediate medical assistance so that your Central Nervous System can get all it needs to function properly.
