Facts on File Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

produces as Alzheimer’s disease progresses. Even- tually acetylcholine production drops below the level at which extending its p ...

lower motor neurons, which regulate voluntary muscle function in the lower extremities bulbar motor neurons, which affect the f ...

measures that provide the QUALITY OF LIFEthat is acceptable to them. Treatment decisions are uniquely individual. About 40 perce ...

a child has acquired a vocabulary of several dozen to several hundred words and can speak in simple sentences. Symptoms of verba ...

athetosis 227 the ability to walk for 10 to 15 years after symp- toms begin and maintain limited independence with assisted mobi ...

B 228 Bell’s palsy Damage to the seventh cranial nerve (facial NERVE) that results in partial to complete PARALYSISof the facial ...

include anti-inflammatory medications to relieve swelling or ANTIVIRAL MEDICATIONS when a VIRUS appears to be the culprit. It is ...

brain The structural and functional hub of the NERVOUS SYSTEM. The brain regulates the body’s functions, voluntary and involunta ...

basal ganglia, collections of nerve fibers that direct motor functions related to complex movement, including the coordination ...

and HORMONEfunctions of basic survival (such as body temperature regulation) thalamus, a small structure that filters and sorts ...

as to disease and injury that affects it directly. CAR- DIOVASCULAR DISEASE(CVD) is perhaps the most sig- nificant general healt ...

rhage may result from trauma to the brain or from the rupturing of a blood vessel (hemorrhagic STROKE), and may occur within the ...

apparent for weeks to months after the bleeding. Some people have significant permanent conse- quences such as PARALYSIS, SEIZUR ...

imaging procedures such as MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING(MRI) andCOMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY(CT) SCAN to examine the brain’s structure. Mos ...

brain tumor 237 nium). Deeper tumors may require guided stereo- tactic techniques in which the neurosurgeon uses an imaging proc ...

C central nervous system The collective structures of the BRAINand SPINAL CORD, exclusive of the CRA- NIAL NERVESandSPINAL NERVE ...

the spastic muscles tend to remain fixed in their positions (contractures) as the contracted MUSCLE fibers eventually shorten. T ...

pregnancy. The doctor may conduct diagnostic imaging procedures such as COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) SCANand MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAG ...

is especially effective when children who have cerebral palsy are young. Parents and physical therapists work together with stre ...

though often are abrupt and exaggerated. In its mildest form chorea appears as restless fidgeting; in its most severe form (call ...