Cerebral Diseases

Cerebral diseases can be devastating for those affected by them. Most often, cerebral diseases transform the way a person's life turns out and are not temporary like diseases that affect most other parts of the body. WebHealthCentre.com, an online health resource, says that the frustration of many cerebral diseases is that they occur within sound minds but make the body disobedient and dysfunctional.

Cerebral Palsy

• Cerebral palsy is characterized by slow, awkward movements that are a result of a healthy mind telling a debilitated nervous system what to do. The intelligence level of many who suffer from cerebral palsy is most often just as good, or even better, than those without it, but because their body is nonresponsive to the brain's impulses, children with cerebral palsy often develop an inferiority complex.

  OriginsOfCerebralPalsy.org says that physicians in the 1970s hypothesized that cerebral palsy is a result of brain trauma during birth. This trauma is most often caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, killing cells that help the cerebral area function. Also, maternal high blood pressure, diabetes and retardation can cause a child to be born with cerebral palsy.

  Although the disease is not curable and no medications can help remedy a child's cerebral palsy, there are specific therapies and strategies that can be used to help aid the mental development of a child with cerebral pals. For example, instead of explaining things, show the child how to do something and allow her to imitate you. This will help build muscle memory. Cerebral palsy is not a killer disease and a child with the disease can live a long, healthy life.

Cerebral Vascular Disease

• Cerebral vascular disease is caused by a dysfunctional circulatory system. A lack of blood to the brain causes a lack of oxygen and can kill brain cells thereby limiting the functions of the body's cerebral hub. Cerebral vascular disease is most often caused by hyptertension, or high blood pressure.

  There are many medications that can help prevent cerebral vascular disease, such as Plavix, Aggrenox and aspirin, but Activase (which is a tissue plasminogen activator) is an acute stroke treatment medication. Ask your doctor if prescribing Activase is right for you. Also, because many of the causes and symptoms are related to the disease of the coronary artery, remedying the problem is much the same: moderate exercise, a change in diet and surgery, if needed.

Moyamoya

• Moyamoya is a medical disorder that while rare, is incredibly dangerous. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, a United States government sponsored medical research resource, it is caused by a narrowing of the blood vessels in the body. Because of this narrowing, the body will start to grow new blood vessels around the blockage. These branches begin to grow larger and more numerous, causing chaos in the body's circulatory system.

  Symptoms include strokes or heart attacks. Most often surgery is needed on the excess of blood vessels. Treatment for moyamoya includes management of hypertension (if hemorrhaging has occurred). Medicinally, those suffering from moyamoya may need to take anticoagulation or antiplatelet pharmaceuticals while recuperating. Long-term, those affected by moyamoya will be just fine if they can keep their blood pressure low.

Cerebral Hemorrhages

• Cerebral hemorrhages are when the brain is suffering from internal bleeding. For people 55 and under, the most common cause of hemorrhaging is head trauma.

  But, for those older than 55, cerebral hemorrhaging can occur from hypertension and a rupturing of the blood vessels in the brain. Also, some people suffer from an anatomical, genetic abnormality in which their veins are too small for the amount of blood being pumped through them and that is what the bleeding is caused by. Whatever the case, symptoms can include excessive bleeding from the nose and ears or excessive bruising.

  Whatever the case, invasive surgery is usually the best treatment available. Catheters are inserted into the brain's blood vessels and widened to allow for more blood to flow freely around the cerebral region. While the hemorrhaging is short-term condition, the blood vessel's rupturing can lead to harmful pathogens getting into the blood stream and causing diseases like hemophilia and platelet function defects (both acquired and congenital). Medications for the disease include a heavy dose of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Motrin), aspirin and platelet coagulation drugs such as Activase.

Cerebral Edemas

• Cerebral edema is caused by an excess of water in the brain. It is caused by hemorrhaging of the brain, which is caused by any number of cerebral diseases. Shaken baby syndrome is the most frequent cause of the disease in infants.

  Water can cause the brain to swell and press up against the skull, causing it to move around, something the brain is not designed to do. Symptoms include frequent and severe migraines and internal bleeding that may come out of the nasal cavities.

  In some cases, the sugar alcohol mannitol can help. Also, diuretics can help remove some of the water from the brain. In more severe cases, open surgery is needed. Long-term, most cases of cerebral edema are cured by medications or surgeries and the disease is not predominantly fatal in adults. In infants, the disease more often than not leads to death because of the child's under-developed brain.