CEREBELLAR DEGENERATION:
- Cerebellar Degeneration is a disease process in which neurons in the cerebellum – the area of the brain that controls muscle coordination and balance – deteriorate and die.
- Diseases that cause cerebellar degeneration can also involve areas of the brain that connect the cerebellum to the spinal cord, such as the medulla oblongata, the cerebral cortex, and the brain stem.
- Cerebellar degeneration is most often the result of inherited genetic mutations that alter the normal production of specific proteins that are necessary for the survival of neurons.
CEREBRAL ATROPHY:
- Cerebral Atrophy is a common feature of many of the diseases that affect the brain. Atrophy of any tissue means loss of cells. In brain tissue, atrophy describes a loss of neurons and the connections between them.
- Atrophy can be generalized, which means that all of the brain has shrunk, or it can be focal, affecting only a limited area of the brain and resulting in a decrease of the functions that area of the brain controls.
- If the cerebral hemispheres (the two lobes of the brain that form the cerebrum) are affected, conscious thought and voluntary processes may be impaired.
CEREBRAL PALSY:
- The term cerebral palsy refers to any one of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but don’t worsen over time.
- It is caused by abnormalities in parts of the brain that control muscle movements. The majority of children with cerebral palsy are born with it, although it may not be detected until months or years later.
- The most common are a lack of muscle coordination when performing voluntary movements (ataxia); stiff or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity); walking with one foot or leg dragging; walking on the toes, a crouched gait, or a “scissored” gait; and muscle tone that is either too stiff or too floppy.
CEREBRO-OCULO-FACIO-SKELETAL SYNDROME:
- (COFS) is a pediatric, genetic, degenerative disorder that involves the brain and the spinal cord. It is characterized by craniofacial and skeletal abnormalities, severely reduced muscle tone, and impairment of reflexes.
- Symptoms may include large, low-set ears, small eyes, microcephaly (abnormal smallness of the head), micrognathia (abnormal smallness of the jaws), clenched fists, wide-set nipples, vision impairments, involuntary eye movements, and mental retardation, which can be moderate or severe. Respiratory infections are frequent.
- COFS is diagnosed at birth.
CHIARI MALFORMATION:
- CM are structural defects in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance. When the indented bony space at the lower rear of the skull is smaller than normal, the cerebellum and brainstem can be pushed downward.
- CM cause a range of symptoms including dizziness, muscle weakness, numbness, vision problems, headache, and problems with balance and coordination.
- Other conditions sometimes associated with CM include hydrocephalus, syringomyelia, and spinal curvature.
CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEMYELINATING POLYNEUROPATHY (CIDP):
- Neurological disorder characterized by progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms.
- The disorder, which is sometimes called chronic relapsing polyneuropathy, is caused by damage to the myelin sheath of the peripheral nerves.
- . It often presents with symptoms that include tingling or numbness (beginning in the toes and fingers), weakness of the arms and legs, loss of deep tendon reflexes (areflexia), fatigue, and abnormal sensations.
CONGENITAL MYASTHENIA:
- Congenital myasthenia is not the same as myasthenia gravis, which is an autoimmune disorder.
- Symptoms are usually noticed in early childhood and include drooping eyelids, facial weakness, and limb weakness.
- Parents of children with congenital myasthenia frequently show no symptoms of the disorder.
DANDY-WALKER SYNDROME:
- (DWS) or Dandy-Walker complex, is a congenital brain malformation involving the cerebellum and the fluid filled spaces around it.
- The Dandy-Walker complex is a genetically sporadic disorder.
DEMENTIA:
- Is the progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging.
- Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, it may occur in any stage of adulthood.
DEMENTIA – MULTI-INFARCT:
- (MID) is a common cause of memory loss in the elderly. MID is caused by multiple strokes (disruption of blood flow to the brain).
- Disruption of blood flow leads to damaged brain tissue.
- Symptoms include confusion or problems with short-term memory, wandering, or getting lost in familiar places,walking with rapid, shuffling steps,losing bladder or bowel control, laughing or crying inappropriately.
DEMENTIA – SEMANTIC:
- Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) describes a clinical syndrome associated with shrinking of the frontal and temporal anterior lobes of the brain.
- The current designation of the syndrome groups together Pick’s disease, primary progressive aphasia, and semantic dementia as FTD.
DIABETIC NEUROPATHY:
- Is a peripheral nerve disorder caused by diabetes. The symptoms of diabetic neuropathy are often slight at first.
- Numbness, pain, or tingling in the feet, or legs may, after several years, lead to weakness in the muscles of the feet.
- Nerve damage caused by diabetes generally occurs over a period of years and may lead to problems with the digestive tract and sexual organs, which can cause indigestion, diarrhea or constipation, dizziness, bladder infections, and impotence.
DYSGRAPHIA:
- Is a neurological disorder characterized by writing disabilities. Specifically, the disorder causes a person’s writing to be distorted or incorrect.
- In children, the disorder generally emerges when they are first introduced to writing.
- Children with the disorder may have other learning disabilities, however, they usually have no social or other academic problems.
- Cases of dysgraphia in adults generally occur after some trauma. In addition to poor handwriting, dysgraphia is characterized by wrong or odd spelling, and production of words that are not correct.
DYSLEXIA:
- Is a specific learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling.
- It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction.
- Dyslexia occurs at all levels of intelligence, average, above average, and highly gifted.
CATHERINE SHALINI RAJA
M.P.T.,MIAP.,PGDYN
CARDIO RESPIRATORY PHYSCIAL THERAPIST
FITNESS & SPORTS REHABILITATION SPECIALIST.