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Chronic Brain Damage
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degenerative disorder
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electrolyte imbalance
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Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is the most commonly used drug in the world. Pharmacologically, alcohol is classified as a central nervous system depressant.
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This report includes information on recognizing the symptoms of problem drinking, treatment techniques, coping with a loved one's drinking, and overcoming denial.
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Alcoholism is defined as alcohol seeking and consumption behavior that is harmful. Long-term and uncontrollable harmful consumption can cause alcohol-related disorders that include: antisocial personality disorder , mood disorders (bipolar and major depression) and anxiety disorders.
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It's important to understand how alcohol and drugs can affect your health and well being.
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Excessive drinking can cause potentially fatal conditions, not only high blood pressure, but also damage to the brain, heart or liver; diabetes and stroke.
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Like cancer or heart disease, alcoholism is a primary chronic disease with its own symptoms and causes. The disease is progressive and often fatal if not treated.
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Effective treatment for alcohol dependency is available, but treatment rates among alcohol abusers are low because of lack of awareness and embarrassment.
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Each year, about 100,000 deaths in the United States are related to alcohol consumption. Learn more about the effects of abusing alcohol by taking this quiz.
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Brain abscess is a bacterial infection within the brain. The brain is usually well insulated from infection by bacteria, protected by the skull, the meninges (tissue layers surrounding the brain), the immune system, and the highly regulated barrier between the bloodstream and the brain.
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A brain abscess is a mass of immune cells, pus, and other material due to a bacterial or fungal infection.
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Detailed information on brain abscess, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the result of physical trauma to the head causing damage to the brain. This damage can be focal, or restricted to a single area of the brain, or diffuse, affecting more than one region of the brain.
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Detailed information on acquired brain injury, including types, causes, and rehabilitation
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A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain. Unlike other tumors, brain tumors spread by local extension and rarely metastasize (spread) outside the brain.
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A primary brain tumor is a group (mass) of abnormal cells that start in the brain. This article focuses on primary brain tumors in adults. See also: Brain tumor - metastatic (cancer that has spread to the brain; Brain tumor - children.
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Detailed information on brain tumors, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, types, and treatment
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A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue, either malignant (cancerous) or benign (noncancerous), in the brain. Each year, more than 17,000 brain tumors are diagnosed in the United States.
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Can I Get Checked for a Brain Tumor Before I Have Symptoms?Screening tests check for signs of cancer in people who don’t have any symptoms.
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How Does My Doctor Know I Have a Brain Tumor?If you have symptoms of a brain tumor, your doctor will first ask questions about these symptoms.
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What Is a Brain Tumor?The brain is a complex organ made up of many different cells and parts.
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Understanding Your Grade of Brain TumorBefore your doctor can recommend a treatment plan, he or she needs to know the grade of the cancer. The grade tells these things about the tumor.How malignant it isHow likely it is that the cancer will spread...
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Types of Brain TumorsThere are many types of brain tumors, including primary and secondary brain tumors.Primary brain tumorsare named by the type of brain tissue in which they are found. The most common primary brain tumors aregliomas, which begin...
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Brain Tumors: Team Members and Common TermsThe members of your health care team will work with you during the course of your treatment. They help guide you through your treatment choices, address your questions and concerns, and give you support.
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Coping With the Cognitive Effects of Brain TumorsElaine learned she had a tumor deep within her brain. After recovering from brain surgery, Elaine started getting lost on short trips to the grocery store--the same store she’d been driving to for y...
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I’ve Just Been Told I Have a Brain TumorA brain tumor is a type of cancer. And there are very few things scarier than being told you have cancer.
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Brain Tumors: Emotional IssuesAdjusting to your diagnosis and treatment can be hard for both you and your loved ones. It will take time.
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Tell Your Healthcare Team How You Feel During Treatment for a Brain TumorTreating your cancer to get the best results is important. But your quality of life also matters.
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Tips for Feeling Your Best During Treatment for a Brain TumorWhen you are being treated for a brain tumor, it is likely that you will have side effects. Depending on how advanced your cancer is, you may also have symptoms of the disease.
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What to Know About Surgery for Brain TumorsSurgery is usually the first step in treating a brain tumor. For this treatment, you see a doctor who specializes in surgery on the brain or nerves, called aneurosurgeon.
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Medications for a Brain TumorBrain tumors often cause symptoms. Also, your treatment is likely to produce some side effects.
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Brain TumorsThe brain controls the body. Each part of the brain has a role.
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Tips for People With Brain TumorsBrain tumors can affect your ability to think, remember, reason, and concentrate. Follow these tips to improve your quality of life and reduce frustration.Become very organized.Lay out clothing ahead of time.Keep a...
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What Can I Do to Prevent a Brain Tumor if I’m At Risk?Because no one knows what causes brain tumors, it is hard to say what will prevent them.
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Am I At Risk for a Brain Tumor?Certain factors can make one person more likely to get a brain tumor than another person.
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What to Know About Your Treatment Choices for Brain TumorsResearchers are finding new treatments for brain tumors. People with brain tumors now have more hope for living longer than ever before.People with brain tumors are often overwhelmed with t...
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Types of Treatment for Brain TumorsDifferent types of brain tumor treatments have different goals. Here is a list of treatments and their goals.Surgery.
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What Are the Symptoms of a Brain Tumor?Brain tumor symptoms depend on the size and location of the tumor.
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Statistics About Brain TumorsSome people use statistical reports to try to figure out their chance of getting cancer or of being cured. Remember that statistics show what happens with large groups of people.
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What Are the Survival Rates for People With Brain Tumors?Survival rates show the percentage of people with a certain type and stage of cancer who survive it for a certain period of time after they are diagnosed.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Brain TumorHere are some frequently asked questions about brain tumors.Q: What is the brain, and how does it work?A: The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system.
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What to Know About Chemotherapy for Brain TumorsChemotherapy uses anticancer drugs to kill cancer cells. The drugs are made to attack and kill cells that divide rapidly.
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Expert-reviewed information summary about the treatment of various childhood brain tumors.
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Potential Side Effects of Chemotherapy for a Brain TumorSide effects of chemotherapy depend on the type and amount of drugs you take and the length of your treatment. Because chemotherapy drugs kill rapidly dividing cells, the drugs can damage hea...
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Detailed information on brain tumors, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, types, and treatment
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Detailed information on brain tumors, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, types, and treatment
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Understanding Traumatic Brain InjuryBreathing, blood flow, and movement are all controlled by the brain. The brain also allows you to think, handle emotions, and make judgments.
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Drug abuse is the use of illegal drugs, or the misuse of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. See also: Drug abuse and dependence; Drug abuse first aid.
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Besides having trouble with school and relationships, teenagers taking drugs may display emotional extremes with irritability, anger and changes in sleep patterns.
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Antibiotics are not necessary for the majority of infections seen in the pediatrician's office.
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Although it’s dangerous to take a prescription medication without a prescription, abusing such medications is the fastest growing type of drug abuse in the United States, outpacing marijuana abuse by a factor of two, according to some studies.
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Medication abuse occurs when patients do not take medication in the prescribed manner, when they use other people ' s medication, or when they combine prescribed medication with over-the counter, traditional, or herbal medicines. Such medication misuse among the elderly is responsible for one out of every ten dollars spent in the health care systems of North America.
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Brain research is finding that drug addiction causes permanent changes in the brain that diminish the addict's capacity for pleasure, while at the same time making the likelihood of relapse into addiction more likely.
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Substance abuse is a maladaptive pattern of alcohol or other drug use that causes social, physical, legal, vocational, or educational distress or impairment. In addition to those trained specifically as substance abuse counselors, mental health and rehabilitation counselors work with individuals who abuse alcohol and other drugs.
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Substance abuse is a pattern of drug, alcohol or other substance use that creates many adverse results from its continual use. The characteristics of abuse are a failure to carry out obligations at home or work, continual use under circumstances that present a hazard (such as driving a car), and legal problems such as arrests.
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Substance abuse and dependence refer to any continued pathological use of a medication, non-medically indicated drug (called drugs of abuse), or toxin. Although there are on-going debates on the exact distinctions between substance abuse and substance dependence, the current practice standard- distinguishes between the two by defining substance dependence in terms of physiological and behavioral symptoms of substance use, and substance abuse in terms of the social consequences of substance use.
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Substance abuse is a pattern of behavior that displays many adverse results from continual use of a substance. Substance dependence is a group of behavioral and physiological symptoms that indicate the continual, compulsive use of a substance in self-administered doses despite the problems related to the use of the substance.
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Substance abuse is the continued compulsive use of mind-altering substances despite personal, social, and/or physical problems caused by the substance use. Abuse may lead to dependence, in which increased amounts are needed to achieve the desired effect or level of intoxication and the patient ' s tolerance for the drug increases.
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Public health has an opportunity to address the issues of substance use, abuse, and dependency across all age groups in the community since it occurs in all age groups. Substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals are acutely aware that alcohol and other drugs have a destructive impact on a person ' s physical, mental, and social development.
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The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is the U.S.
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An electrolyte disorder is an imbalance of certain ionized salts (i.e.
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Although the word meningitis suggests an inflammation of the meninges only, there is always some involvement of the most superficial parts of the brain that are contiguous to the meninges. Often there are also alterations in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
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Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain, usually caused by a direct viral infection or a hypersensitivity reaction to a virus or foreign protein. Brain inflammation caused by a bacterial infection is sometimes called cerebritis.
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Encephalitis is an inflammation (irritation and swelling) of the brain, usually caused by infections. See also meningitis.
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Detailed information on the most common types of encephalitis, including Japanese encephalitis, tickborne encephalitis, and arbovirus encephalitis
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Detailed information on encephalitis, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
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Detailed information on encephalitis, including cause, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
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An inflammatory disease of the brain caused by a virus that either has invaded the brain, or a virus appearing elsewhere in the body that has caused a sensitivity reaction in the brain. Encephalitis infects the brain tissue itself and has serious consequences.
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Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain, usually caused by a direct viral infection or a hypersensitivity reaction to a virus or foreign protein. Brain inflammation caused by a bacterial infection is sometimes called cerebritis.
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A fluid imbalance occurs when the level of body fluids is abnormal.
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Immunodeficiency disorders occur when the body's immune response is reduced or absent. See also: Autoimmune disorders
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Detailed information on the immune system and immune disorders
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Inborn errors of metabolism are rare genetic disorders in which the body cannot properly turn food into energy. The disorders are usually caused by defects in specific proteins (enzymes) that help break down (metabolize) parts of food. See: Newborn screening tests
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Inborn errors of metabolism are inherited disorders in which the body cannot metabolize the components of food ( carbohydrates , proteins , and The Guthrie test, given to newborns, helps doctors diagnose some inborn errors of metabolism before they cause permanent damage. The test requires a small sample of blood, usually taken from the heel.
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Acute (sudden) kidney failure is the sudden loss of the ability of the kidneys to remove waste and concentrate urine without losing electrolytes.
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This guide discusses ways to recognize, prevent, and treat the most common types of kidney disease, such as kidney stones, glomerulonephritis, and chronic kidney disease.
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Chronic kidney failure occurs when disease or dis- order damages the kidneys so that they can no longer adequately remove fluids and wastes from the body or maintain proper levels of kidney-regulated chemicals in the bloodstream. Chronic kidney failure, also known as chronic renal failure, affects over 250,000 Americans annually.
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Chronic kidney failure occurs when disease or disorder damages the kidneys so that they are no longer capable of adequately removing fluids and wastes from the body or of maintaining the proper level of certain kidney-regulated chemicals in the bloodstream. Chronic kidney failure, also known as chronic renal failure, affects over 250,000 Americans annually.
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HemodialysisHemodialysis is one kind of dialysis. It uses a machine that holds a filter called a dialyzer.
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The following Clinical Topic Tour provides an overview of meningitis and was adapted from materials published by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Meningitis is a serious inflammation of the meninges, the membranes (lining) that surround the brain and spinal cord. It can be of bacterial, viral, or fungal origin.
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Meningitis is a bacterial or non-bacterial infection that causes inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
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Detailed information on meningitis, including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
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Meningitis is the most common serious manifestation of infection of the central nervous system (CNS). Inflammatory involvement of the subarachnoid space with meningeal irritation leads to the classic triad of headache, fever and meningism, and to a pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
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An inflammation of the meninges, most often caused by infection. Meningitis is a potentially fatal inflammation of the meninges, membranes which encase the brain and spinal cord.
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A new vaccine can help head off meningococcal meningitis for 11- and 12-year-olds, teens entering high school and college freshmen in dormitories.
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A vaccination for meningitis is extremely safe and may be prudent for college students, who are at high risk for contracting the bacteria.
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Bacterial meningitis Epidemiology and microbiology: the overall annual incidence of bacterial meningitis is about 2?3/100,000, with peaks of incidence in infants and adolescents. Integration of vaccines into the UK vaccination programme against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and more recently against group C meningococccus has led to a marked decline in cases of Hib and Group C meningococcal meningitis and has significantly reduced the overall incidence of bacterial meningitis.
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Meningitis is a potentially fatal inflammation of the meninges, the thin, membranous covering of the brain and the spinal cord. Meningitis is most commonly caused by infection (by bacteria, viruses, or fungi), although it can also be caused by bleeding into the meninges, cancer , diseases of the immune system, and an inflammatory response to certain types of chemotherapy or other chemical agents.
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Detailed information on meningitis, including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
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Meningitis is an infection and inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
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Meningitis is a potentially fatal inflammation of the meninges, the thin, membranous covering of the brain and the spinal cord. Meningitis is most commonly caused by infection by bacteria, viruses, or fungi, although it can also be caused by bleeding into the meninges, cancer , diseases of the immune system, and an inflammatory response to certain types of chemotherapy or other chemical agents.
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Most cases of viral meningitis occur in children under 5 years of age. Viral meningitis is usually mild and often goes away without treatment. It is much less serious than bacterial meningitis.
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Meningitis is a potentially fatal inflammation of the meninges, the thin, membranous covering of the brain and the spinal cord . Meningitis is most commonly caused by infection ( bacteria , viruses , or fungi ), although it can also be caused by bleeding into the meninges, cancer , diseases of the immune system , and an inflammatory response to certain types of chemotherapy or other chemical agents.
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Detailed information on meningitis, including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
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Encephalitis is an acute inflammatory process that affects brain tissue and is almost always accompanied by inflammation of the adjacent meninges (tissues lining the brain). There are many types of encephalitis, most of which are caused by viral infections.
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Detailed information on meningitis, including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
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Detailed information on meningitis, including symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
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Can you get meningitis more then once?
Howard LeWine, M.D., is chief editor of Internet Publishing at Harvard Health Publications. He is recognized as an outstanding clinician and teacher and is a recipient of the Internal Medicine Teacher of the Year award at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. LeWine continues to practice Internal Medicine; most recently he became a hospitalist after practicing primary care for over 20 years.
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A transient ischemic attack is a "mini-stroke" caused by temporary disturbance of blood supply to an area of the brain, which results in a sudden, brief decrease in brain function.
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A ministroke, or transient ischemic attack (TIA), is a brief episode of stroke symptoms caused by temporary interruption of blood flow to the brain. Most people suffer TIAs without realizing it.
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A transient ischemic attack (TIA), also called a ministroke or warning stroke, causes symptoms similar to those of a stroke.
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