Human Neurodegenerative Disease

Human neurodegenerative disease is an umbrella term describing a wide range of disorders with one common denominator--all are characterized by the progressive loss of neurons in the brain and/or spinal cord. While there are a number of neurodegenerative diseases, they can be roughly divided into two main types: neurodegenerative diseases that affect the memory and diseases that affect motor abilities. Viable treatment options depend on an individual's condition and how advanced the neuronal damage has progressed.

Aspects

• Neurodegenerative disease can be caused by the actual death and deterioration of neurons, the neural system's cells, or by the breakdown of the myelin sheath that covers the axons that connect neurons to one another. Neurons cannot be regenerated: once damaged or destroyed, other parts of the brain may take up the lost neurons' functions, but those particular neuronal cells cannot recover. This is one of the reasons that neurodegenerative diseases are serious health conditions.

Causes

• Although no single cause of neurodegenerative disease has been identified, research indicates that a number of neurodegenerative disease sufferers have neurons clogged with toxic proteins due to a lack of the molecule dynein. Dynein is known to play a crucial role in the movement and correct placement of proteins within cells. If dynein is absent, the proteins remain in large groups, inhibiting the cell's proper function. Since patients with neurodegenerative disorders have these unusual groups of proteins in their neurons, researchers have speculated that a dynein deficiency may be the key to understanding many neural system problems.

Types

• All neurodegenerative diseases can roughly be divided into two groups based on their symptoms and the systems they effect. The first type causes problems with memory and results in dementia. The second causes severe problems with motor skills.

Specific Disorders

• The most common neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, cerebral palsy, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.

Treatments

• Treatments for these disorders are based on the individuals' characteristic conditions. While most neurodegenerative disease are considered incurable, there are a number of medications, antibiotics and theraputic treatments for each condition that can sometimes slow or alleviate the onset of symptoms.