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Neurodegenerative disease (Greek νέυρο-, néuro-, "nerval" and Latin dēgenerāre, "to decline" or "to worsen") is a condition in which cells of the brain and spinal cord are lost. The brain and spinal cord are composed of neurons that do different functions such as controlling movements, processing sensory information, and making decisions. Cells of the brain and spinal cord are not readily regenerated en mass, so excessive damage can be devastating. Neurodegenerative diseases result from deterioration of neurons or their myelin sheath which over time will lead to dysfunction and disabilities resulting from this. They are crudely divided into two groups according to phenotypic effects, although these are not mutually exclusive: This article is about the medical term. ...
For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ...
This article is about cells in the nervous system. ...
- conditions causing problems with movements, such as ataxia
- conditions affecting memory and related to dementia
Some proteins, called prions, suffer post-translational modification(s) that change their shape so that they no longer perform their cellular functions and instead trigger equivalent modifications in normal proteins, thus creating a cascade of damage that eventually results in significant neurodegeneration. In humans, this can cause Creutzfeldt-JaKob Disease or variant CJK (Mad Cow Disease). For other uses, see Ataxia (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Memory (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Dementia (disambiguation). ...
For the bird called a prion, see Prion (bird) Prions - short for proteinaceous infectious particle - are infectious self-reproducing protein structures. ...
Normally, neurodegeneration begins long before the patient experiences any symptoms. It can be months or years before any effect is felt[citation needed]. Symptoms are noticed when many cells die or cease to function and a part of the brain begins to fail.
Regulation, or production of microglia by the immune system, in a process of neuroinflammation, is currently being rigorously studied for its role in neurodegenerative diseases.[1][2][3][4] Microglia cells positive for lectins Microglia are a type of glial cell that act as the immune cells of the Central nervous system (CNS). ...
A scanning electron microscope image of a single neutrophil (yellow), engulfing anthrax bacteria (orange). ...
Recently, it has been suggested that Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), a food additive, can increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
List of neurodegenerative diseases
These diseases have their own characteristics which usually affect middle aged or older people. They usually worsen over time. Alexander disease is a slowly progressing fatal neurodegenerative disease. ...
Alpers disease, also called progressive infantile poliodystrophy, is a progressive degenerative disease of the central nervous system that occurs in infants and children. ...
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrigs Disease, Maladie de Charcot or motor neurone disease) is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. ...
Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) (Boder-Sedgwick syndrome or Louis-Bar syndrome) is a primary immunodeficiency disorder that occurs in an estimated incidence of 1 in 40,000 to 1 in 300,000 births (Lederman, 2000). ...
Batten disease is a rare, fatal, inherited disease of the nervous system (neurodegenerative disorder) that begins in childhood. ...
Classic image of a cow with BSE. A notable feature of such disease is the inability (of the infected animal) to stand. ...
Canavan disease is an inherited disorder that causes progressive damage to nerve cells in the brain. ...
Cockayne syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by growth failure, impaired development of the nervous system, abnormal sensitivity to sunlight (photosensitivity), and premature aging. ...
Corticobasal degeneration (CBD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with atrophy of the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia. ...
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a very rare and incurable degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is ultimately fatal. ...
AIDS dementia complex (ADC; also known as HIV dementia, HIV encepalopathy and HIV-associated dementia) has become a common neurological disorder associated with HIV infection and AIDS. It is is a metabolic encephalopathy induced by HIV infection and fueled by immune activation of brain macrophages and microglia. ...
Kennedy disease (KD) or X-linked spinal-bulbar muscle atrophy is a neuromuscular disease associated with mutations of the androgen receptor (AR). ...
Krabbe disease (also known as globoid cell leukodystrophy or galactosylceramide lipidosis) is a rare, often fatal degenerative disorder that affects the nervous system. ...
Dementia with Lewy bodies is the second most frequent cause of hospitalization for dementia, after Alzheimers disease. ...
Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is a genetic disease with multiple types, each of which could be considered a disease in its own right. ...
Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a degenerative neurological disorder. ...
For other uses, see Narcolepsy (disambiguation). ...
Lyme disease, or borreliosis, is an emerging infectious disease caused by spirochete bacteria from the genus Borrelia. ...
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD) is a rare central nervous system disorder in which coordination, motor abilities, and intellectual function are delayed to variable extents. ...
Picks disease has two meanings that are often confused: 1) Pathology: Neurologists currently use the term Picks disease to mean specifically one of the pathological subtypes of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). ...
Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is a rare neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness in the voluntary muscles. ...
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs, also known as prion diseases) are a group of progressive conditions that affect the brain and nervous system of humans and animals and are transmitted by prions. ...
Refsums disease (Refsum-Thiébaut disease, Refsum-Thiébaut-Klenk-Kahlke disease), named after Norwegian neurologist Sigvald Bernhard Refsum (1907-1991), is an autosomal recessive (Chromosome 10) neurological disease that results in the malformation of myelin sheaths around nerve cells. ...
Sandhoff disease is a rare inherited disorder that causes progressive destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. ...
Schilder disease or diffuse myelinoclastic sclerosis is a a very infrequent neurodegenerative disease that presents clinically as pseudotumoural demyelinating lesions, what difficults its diagnosis. ...
Subacute combined degeneration of spinal cord, also known as Lichtheims disease, refers to degeneration of the posterior and lateral columns of the spinal cord as a result of vitamin B12 deficiency. ...
Batten disease is a rare, fatal, inherited disease of the nervous system (neurodegenerative disorder) that begins in childhood. ...
Spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) is a genetic disease with multiple types, each of which could be considered a disease in its own right. ...
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a term applied to a number of different disorders, all having in common a genetic cause and the manifestation of weakness due to loss of the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brainstem. ...
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) (or the Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome, after the Canadian physicians who described it in 1963 ) is a rare degenerative disorder involving the gradual deterioration and death of selected areas of the brain. ...
// Tabes dorsalis is a slow degeneration of the nerve cells and nerve fibers that carry sensory information to the brain. ...
Treatment Initial treatment is dependent on diagnosis of underlying disorder. At present there are few therapies for the wide range of neurodegenerative diseases. Treatment with L-dopa can inhibit symptoms of Parkinson's Disease for a short time, but then causes acceleration of the symptoms. Efforts are being made to develop therapies for Alzheimer's Disease that will stabilize cognitive function at the level existing at time of diagnosis and treatment. // Therapeutic use L-DOPA is used to replace dopamine lost in Parkinsons disease because dopamine itself cannot cross the blood-brain barrierwhere its precursor can. ...
Research is highly invested in stem cell technology and stem cell treatments, as well as Gene therapy. Mouse embryonic stem cells with fluorescent marker. ...
Medical researchers believe that stem cell treatments have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. ...
Gene therapy is the insertion of genes into an individuals cells and tissues to treat a disease, and hereditary diseases in which a defective mutant allele is replaced with a functional one. ...
Research is underway into Bio-Markers as part of an attempt to understand the progression of certain types of neurodegenerative disease. In theory, if relevant bio-markers were identified, people could be treated for such diseases prior to onset of symptoms, thus resulting in a significant extension of their normal functional lifespan. As yet, however, the science of bio-markers is in its infancy and consequently diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease tends to occur after the majority of neural damage has already been suffered by the patient. Biomarker is an occasionally used synonym for biosignature, which is a term used in astrobiology to indicate a measurable phenomenon that indicates the presence of life. ...
References - ^ Whitton PS.Inflammation as a causative factor in the aetiology of Parkinson's disease. Br J Pharmacol. 2007 Apr;150(8):963-76.
- ^ Turrin NP, Rivest S. Molecular and cellular immune mediators of neuroprotection. Mol Neurobiol. 2006 Dec;34(3):221-42.
- ^ Sierra A, Gottfried-Blackmore AC, McEwen BS, Bulloch K. Microglia derived from aging mice exhibit an altered inflammatory profile. Glia. 2007 Mar;55(4):412-24.
- ^ Segura-Aguilar J, Kostrzewa RM. Neurotoxins and neurotoxicity mechanisms. An overview. Neurotox Res. 2006 Dec;10(3-4):263-87.
External links
See also Proteopathy Trinucleotide repeat disorders (also known as trinucleotide repeat expansion disorders, expansion disorders or codon reiteration disorders) are due to stretches of DNA in a gene that contain the same trinucleotide sequence repeated many times. ...
Proteopathy (Proteo- [pref. ...
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