Neurodegenerative Diseases | References

- Parkinson's Disease (PD)
- Huntington's Disease (HD)
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Creutzfield Jakob Disease (CJD)
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

Examples of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases are a group of neurological conditions characterized by the progressive deterioration or death of neurons. These diseases are driven by factors such as protein aggregation, protein misfolding, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction.

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Nervous system diseases affect the brain, spinal cord and nerves. These include structural, biochemical and electrical damages. Below are a few lists of diseases covered in 1Cademy:
- Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS)
- Encephalopathy
- Anosmia
- Seizures
- Stroke
- Paralysis
- Ageusia

Neurological Diseases

- As per NIH, chronic diseases usually last for ≥3 months and can be progressive.
- As per CDC, the deadliest chronic diseases in the US (from most to least deadly) are heart disease, cancer, CLRD, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes.
- People with chronic diseases are more likely to experience severe complications of COVID-19 if they get infected.

Chronic Diseases

- Intellectual Disability (ID)
- General Learning Disability
- Acquired brain injuries
- Neurodegenerative diseases

Types of Cognitive disabilities

Guillain-Barré syndrome occurs when the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, causing damage to the nerves. It is characterized by muscle weakness, and in some cases, paralysis. 

Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)

Encephalopathy is an umbrella term for damages and diseases to the brain. They include, but are not limited, to the following:
- Ischemic Stroke
- Ophthalmoparesis

Encephalopathy 

Even in the absence of typical respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath, various patients diagnosed with COVID-19 have presented neurological symptoms, such as:

- acute cerebrovascular diseases

- impaired consciousness

-  skeletal muscle injury

- encephalopathy (symptoms: ischemic stroke)

- loss of smell (anosmia) and taste (ageusia)

- stroke

- cranial nerve deficits

- delirium

- meningitis

- paralysis

- seizures

- neuroinflammatory syndromes

- high pressure CSF

- muscle stiffness

The list below includes less-common neurological symptoms of COVID-19:
- Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS)
- Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)

Neurological symptoms Presented in COVID-19 Patients

Anosmia, is the temporary or permanent loss of smell. It is also called smell blindness. It can be caused due to inflammation of the nasal passage or due to brain damage. Anosmia caused due to brain damage is permanent and can not be treated. While the loss of smell due to inflammation can be treated with glucocorticoids. This neurological disorder can have a myriad of harmful effects ranging from an increase in gas leak incidents to loss of appetite, as the person is unable to taste food properly.
Anosmia is one of the primary symptom of COVID-19. Around 80% of infected patients face the loss of smell at some point during the infection. 


Anosmia

A seizure is characterised by uncontrolled shaking followed by unconsciousness. It may also lead to loss of bladder control. Seizures are caused due to abnormal excessive or synchronous activity in the brain. Commonly called epileptic seizures, they may take around 2 minutes to subside. They can be caused due to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, central nervous system infections, trauma, congenital CNS abnormalities, metabolic disorders, sleep deprivation, brain tumor etc. 

Seizures

Stroke is characterised by the loss of movement or the ability to feel one part of the body, loss of vision, problems understanding or speaking, dizziness. It is caused due to poor blood flow to the brain, which cause faulty functioning. There may be a poor blood flow due to internal bleeding (hemorrhagic stroke) or due to lack of blood flow (ischemic stroke). The symptoms of a stroke may be permanent. 

Stroke

Paralysis is caused by damage to the nervous system and is characterised as the loss of motor function in one or more muscles. It can also accompany loss of sensation if there is a damage to the sensory part too. Apart from nervous system injuries it can be caused due to certain drugs, stroke, trauma, ALS and other neurological diseases. 

Paralysis

Ageusia is characterised as the loss of taste function of the tongue, particularly the loss to detect sweet, salty, bitter and sour flavor. Often times confused with anosmia, it is one of the symptoms of COVID-19. It may be caused due to head injury, upper respiratory tract infection, exposure to toxic substances, medicines etc. 

Ageusia

Delirium is a state of acute confusion, caused due to deteriorating baseline mental functioning. It is characterised by disturbances in attention, consciousness, and cognition, along with neurological defects which may include psychomotor disturbances, impaired sleep-wake cycle, emotional disturbances, and perceptual disturbances. Causes of delirium include disease in the brain, side effect of medication, withdrawal from drugs, over-consumption of alcohol, usage of hallucinogenic deliriants. 

Delirium

Neurodegenerative Diseases

- Cancer is a term that refers to a collection of diseases in which some of the body's cells divide uncontrollably and invade surrounding tissues. 
- Cancer can metastasize, i.e., spread to other parts of the body. Metastatic cancer is hard to treat and tends to be fatal. Most cancer deaths are caused by metastasis.

This node should be a relation node, but I can't delete it since it's a root node of the "cancer" tree and it has two upvotes.


Cancer

- According to the WHO, "Cardiovascular disease is the name for the group of disorders of heart and blood vessels."  
- As per WHO, cardiovascular disease includes hypertension, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease,  peripheral vascular disease, heart failure, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease, and cardiomyopathies. 
- Cardiovascular disease is a risk factor for severe COVID-19, and COVID-19 causes cardiovascular complications. 

Cardiovascular disease 

Previous lung disease is a risk factor for mortality in patients with COVID-19. Older age, male gender, home oxygen therapy, and respiratory failure on admission were associated with an increased mortality. 

lung disease

- CKD, also known as chronic renal disease,  is a chronic, non-communicable, irreversible condition where kidney function gradually declines over time.
- However, CKD progression can be slowed down dramatically or even stopped.
- The earlier stages of CKD are usually asymptomatic.
- Diabetes and high blood pressure cause almost two-thirds of CKD cases.
- Source: https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/about-chronic-kidney-disease

Chronic Kidney Disease

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the routine treatment of and communication regarding pre-existing patient comorbidities were significantly disrupted. To ensure continuity of care, healthcare providers implemented new clinical guidelines and safety precautions, largely utilizing telehealth and virtual communication platforms. While these new communication and treatment policies share broad similarities across medical fields, specific protocols vary based on the unique management needs of each comorbidity.

Changes to COVID-19 Patient Comorbidity Treatment and Communication

Diabetes is a collection of diseases in which blood glucose levels (i.e., blood sugar) is too high. The most common types of diabetes are type II diabetes, type I diabetes, gestational diabetes, and prediabetes.



Diabetes

- Alzheimer's disease is a progressive chronic disease. It's "a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior"; over time, these symptoms progressively interfere with daily tasks.
- It's the 6th leading cause of death. Current treatments can alleviate the symptoms but can't stop the progression of Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's Disease

Since mindfulness meditation can alleviate symptoms of distress, pain, and chronic disease, it can be used to treat hallucinations and delusions experienced by schizophrenic patients. 

What Symptoms Mindfulness Meditation can help Treat in Patients with Severe Schizophrenia

- Cystic fibrosis
- Diabetes
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cancers
- AIDS
- Hemophilia
- Epilepsy
- Hepatitis
- Hyperhidrosis
- Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Long COVID

List of Medical Disabilities

Abnormally excessive sweating that is often unrelated to body temperature nor exercise. Known as the silent disorder, this is a widespread condition that affects almost 3% of the population. Currently, solutions to alleviate the condition either serve as temporary solutions or cause many other side effects.

Hyperhidrosis

"Chronic pain management" or "pain management" typically refers to the practice of employing pain killing medicines, psychological therapy/ practices, and/ or managing/ controlling the environment of the patient/ sufferer in order to lessen or mitigate the pain they feel or else make the pain in question more manageable.

Chronic Pain Management

Chronic pain is often a symptom of chronic conditions/ disabilities, though not always. In the medical sphere, "chronic pain" is defined as pain that may be constant in some sense of come and go. Or, in the case of conditions that may have a cure or may "heal", chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts longer than three to six months.

Chronic Pain

Chronic illness increases the likelihood of comorbid conditions such as mental illness and other physical conditions, a lower quality of life, increased cost of healthcare, and complications from a failure to manage the condition(s) properly. 

Mental Health Issues in Children and Adolescents with Chronic Illness

Psychological factors significantly influence the onset, progression, and management of chronic diseases. For instance, motivation, goal setting, and problem-solving strategies are essential for overcoming barriers to positive lifestyle changes. Additionally, emotional management plays a critical role in coping with the demands of chronic illnesses, making these psychological elements central to patient health outcomes.

Psychological Factors in Chronic Diseases

Individuals with genetic conditions associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Syndromic IDDs

Learning disabilities are cognitive disorders that impact specific areas of cognition, such as language or reading. They are classified as specific neurological impairments, distinguishing them from global intellectual or developmental disabilities. A key characteristic is that they often affect individuals with average to above-average intelligence, meaning the disability is confined to a particular cognitive area and is not an indicator of overall intellectual capability.

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