Stroke 3D Animation

 Risk factors

The most important modifiable risk factors for stroke are high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation (although magnitude of this effect is small: the evidence from the Medical Research Council trials is that 833 patients have to be treated for 1 year to prevent one stroke. Other modifiable risk factors include high blood cholesterol levels, diabetes, cigarette smoking (active and passive), heavy alcohol consumption and drug use, lack of physical activity, obesity, processed red meat consumption and unhealthy diet. Alcohol use could predispose to ischemic stroke, and intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhage via multiple mechanisms (for example via hypertension, atrial fibrillation, rebound thrombocytosis and platelet aggregation and clotting disturbances).The drugs most commonly associated with stroke are cocaine, amphetamines causing hemorrhagic stroke, but also over-the-counter cough and cold drugs containing sympathomimetics.No high quality studies have shown the effectiveness of interventions aimed at weight reduction, promotion of regular exercise, reducing alcohol consumption or smoking cessation. Nonetheless, given the large body of circumstantial evidence, best medical management for stroke includes advice on diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol use. Medication or drug therapy is the most common method of stroke prevention; carotid endarterectomy can be a useful surgical method of preventing stroke.

Kidney Stones

A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus (from the Latin ren, "kidney" and calculus, "pebble") is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine. Urinary stones are typically classified by their location in the kidney (nephrolithiasis), ureter (ureterolithiasis), or bladder (cystolithiasis), or by their chemical composition (calcium-containing, struvite, uric acid, or other compounds). Kidney stones are a significant source of morbidity.

Ascending sensory pathways in the spinal cord

A sensory system is a part of the nervous system responsible for processing sensory information. A sensory system consists of sensory receptors, neural pathways, and parts of the brain involved in sensory perception. Commonly recognized sensory systems are those for vision, hearing, somatic sensation (touch), taste and olfaction (smell). In short, senses are transducers from the physical world to the realm of the mind.The receptive field is the specific part of the world to which a receptor organ and receptor cells respond. For instance, the part of the world an eye can see, is its receptive field; the light that each rod or cone can see, is its receptive field. Receptive fields have been identified for the visual system, auditory system and somatosensory system, so far.

Glasgow Coma Scale

Glasgow Coma Scale or GCS is a neurological scale that aims to give a reliable, objective way of recording the conscious state of a person for initial as well as subsequent assessment. A patient is assessed against the criteria of the scale, and the resulting points give a patient score between 3 (indicating deep unconsciousness) and either 14 (original scale) or 15 (the more widely used modified or revised scale).GCS was initially used to assess level of consciousness after head injury, and the scale is now used by first aid, EMS, and doctors as being applicable to all acute medical and trauma patients. In hospitals it is also used in monitoring chronic patients in intensive care.The scale was published in 1974 by Graham Teasdale and Bryan J. Jennett, professors of neurosurgery at the University of Glasgow's Institute of Neurological Sciences at the city's Southern General Hospital.GCS is used as part of several ICU scoring systems, including APACHE II, SAPS II, and SOFA, to assess the status of the central nervous system. A similar scale, the Rancho Los Amigos Scale is used to assess the recovery of traumatic brain injury patients.

Diplegic gait demonstration

Diplegia, when used singularly, refers to paralysis affecting symmetrical parts of the body. This should not be confused with hemiplegia which refers to spasticity restricted to one side of the body, or quadriplegia which requires the involvement of all four limbs but not necessarily symmetrical.Diplegia is the most common cause of crippling in children, specifically in children with Cerebral Palsy.Other causes may be due to injury of the spinal cord. There is no set course of progression for people with diplegia. Symptoms may get worse but the neurological part does not change. The primary parts of the brain that are affected by diplegia are the ventricles, fluid filled sacs in the brain, and the wiring from the center of the brain to the cerebral cortex. There is also usually some degeneration of the cerebral neurons, as well as problems in the upper motor neuron system.The term diplegia can refer to any bodily area, such as the face, arms, or legs

Sydenham's chorea "Choreiform gait demonstration"

Sydenham's chorea or Chorea minor (historically referred to as Saint Vitus' Dance) is a disease characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements affecting primarily the face, feet and hands. Sydenham's chorea (SC) results from childhood infection with Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococci  and is reported to occur in 20-30% of patients with acute rheumatic fever (ARF). The disease is usually latent, occurring up to 6 months after the acute infection, but may occasionally be the presenting symptom of RF

Hemiplegic gait demonstration

Hemiplegia is total paralysis of the arm, leg, and trunk on the same side of the body. Hemiplegia is more severe than hemiparesis, wherein one half of the body has less marked weakness. Hemiplegia may be congenital or acquired from an illness or stroke.

Hemiplegia is not an uncommon medical disorder. In elderly individuals, strokes are the most common cause of hemiplegia. In children, the majority of cases of hemiplegia have no identifiable cause and occur with a frequency of about one in every thousand births. Experts indicate that the majority of cases of hemiplegia that occur up to the age of two should be considered to be cerebral palsy until proven otherwise.

Ataxic gait demonstration

Ataxia (from Greek α- [used as a negative prefix] + -τάξις [order], meaning "lack of order") is a neurological sign and symptom that consists of gross lack of coordination of muscle movements. Ataxia is a non-specific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum. Several possible causes exist for these patterns of neurological dysfunction. The term "dystaxia" is a rarely used synonym.

Parkinsonian gait "festinating gait"

Parkinsonian gait (or festinating gait, from Latin festinare [to hurry]) is the type of gait exhibited by patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD). This disorder is caused by a deficiency of dopamine in the basal ganglia circuit leading to motor deficits. Gait is one of the most affected motor characteristics of this disorder although symptoms of Parkinson's disease are varied.

Parkinsonian gait is characterized by small shuffling steps and a general slowness of movement (hypokinesia), or even the total loss of movement (akinesia) in the extreme cases.Patients with PD demonstrate reduced stride length and walking speed during free ambulation while double support duration and cadence rate are increased. The patient has difficulty starting, but also has difficulty stopping after starting. This is due to muscle hypertonicity.

Myopathic gait "waddling gait"

Myopathic gait (or waddling gait) is a form of gait abnormality.

The "waddling" is due to the weakness of the proximal muscles of the pelvic girdle.

The patient uses circumduction to compensate for gluteal weakness.

Kernig's Sign - signs in meningitis

Kernig's sign (after Waldemar Kernig (1840–1917), a Baltic German neurologist) is positive when the leg is bent at the hip and knee at 90 degree angles, and subsequent extension in the knee is painful (leading to resistance). This may indicate subarachnoid haemorrhage or meningitis. Patients may also show opisthotonus—spasm of the whole body that leads to legs and head being bent back and body bowed backwards

Brudzinski's Sign - signs in meningitis

Brudzinski's signs
Jozef Brudzinski (1874–1917), a Polish pediatrician, is credited with several signs in meningitis. The most commonly used sign (Brudzinski's neck sign) is the appearance of involuntary lifting of the legs in meningeal irritation when lifting a patient's head off the examining couch, with the patient lying supine.Other signs attributed to Brudzinski:The symphyseal sign, in which pressure on the pubic symphysis leads to abduction of the leg and reflexive hip and knee flexion.The cheek sign, in which pressure on the cheek below the zygoma leads to rising and flexion in the forearm.Brudzinski's reflex, in which passive flexion of one knee into the abdomen leads to involuntary flexion in the opposite leg, and stretching of a limb that was flexed leads to contralateral extension.

Cranial Nerve 6 palsy

Sixth nerve palsy, or abducens nerve palsy, is a disorder associated with dysfunction of cranial nerve VI (the abducens nerve), which is responsible for contracting the lateral rectus muscle to abduct (i.e., turn out) the eye. The inability of an eye to turn outward results in a convergent strabismus or esotropia of which the primary symptom is double vision or diplopia in which the two images appear side-by-side. The condition is commonly unilateral but can also occur bilaterally.The unilateral abducens nerve palsy is the most common of the isolated ocular motor nerve palsies .

Cranial Nerve 4 Palsy

The trochlear nerve (the fourth cranial nerve, also called the fourth nerve, IV) is a motor nerve (a “somatic efferent” nerve) that innervates a single muscle: the superior oblique muscle of the eye.The trochlear nerve is unique among the cranial nerves in several respects. It is the smallest nerve in terms of the number of axons it contains. It has the greatest intracranial length. Along with the optic nerve (cranial nerve II), it is the only cranial nerve that decussates (crosses to the other side) before innervating its target. Finally, it is the only cranial nerve that exits from the dorsal aspect of the brainstem.

Oculomotor nerve palsy - "Cranial Nerve 3 Palsy"

Oculomotor nerve palsy is an eye condition resulting from damage to the third cranial nerve or a branch thereof. As the name suggests, the oculomotor nerve supplies the majority of the muscles controlling eye movements. Thus, damage to this nerve will result in the affected individual being unable to move their eye normally. In addition, the nerve also supplies the upper eyelid muscle (the Levator palpebrae superioris) and the muscles responsible for pupil constriction (termed miosis) and dilation (termed mydriasis). The limitations of eye movements resulting from the condition are generally so severe that the affected individual is unable to maintain normal alignment of their eyes when looking straight ahead, leading to strabismus and, as a consequence, double vision (diplopia).

It is also known as "Oculomotor neuropathy".

Autism: Definitions, Diagnosis & Treatment

Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills .

Epilepsy from A to Z

Take a look into our current understanding of the function of the human brain and some of the important diseases that cause nervous system dysfunction. On this edition, Dr. Daniel Lowenstein, director of the UCSF Epilepsy Center, explores care and treatment of epilepsy. Series: "UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public" [10/2007] [Health and Medicine]