Diseases of the nervous system (neurology)

Standards of treatment of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke

In 1995, the results of a study of tissue plasminogen activator (tAP), published at the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS), were published. This was a historic milestone in the treatment of stroke, as it was the first undoubted proof that brain damage in stroke can be limited to therapeutic intervention.

Stroke: diagnosis

Diagnosis of stroke includes two phases. First, it is necessary to establish the very fact of occlusion of the artery, which is usually confirmed by the features of the course of the disease and the nature of the symptomatology. Secondly, the cause of occlusion should be identified.

Stroke: symptoms

Stroke is a broad term that includes a number of conditions characterized by a sudden breakdown in brain function due to impaired cerebral circulation. To describe the condition that occurs after the occlusion of the cerebral vessel, it is advisable to use the term "cerebral ischemia". Vein thrombosis can also lead to ischemia, but is less common than occlusion of the artery.

Stroke: Overview of Information

Stroke is an acute disorder of the cerebral circulation, which is characterized by sudden (within minutes, less often - hours) appearance of focal neurologic symptoms (motor, speech, sensory, coordinative, visual and other disorders) and / or cerebral infringements (impaired consciousness, headache, vomiting etc.), which persist for longer than 24 hours or lead to the death of the patient in a shorter period of time as a result of the cause of cerebrovascular origin.

Antiepileptic drugs

Phenytoin was introduced into clinical practice in 1938 as the first non-sedative antiepileptic agent. Its anticonvulsant effect was confirmed in experimental animals using the model of maximum electric shock. Phenytoin is currently the most widely used drug in the US for the treatment of partial and secondarily generalized seizures.

Epilepsy: Treatment

Bromine salts were the first effective antiepileptic agent. Since 1850, bromides have been used based on the erroneous belief that, by relaxing the sexual desire, it is possible to reduce the severity of seizures. Although the bromides really had antiepileptic effect, they were toxic and stopped to be used as soon as barbiturates were introduced into practice in 60 years.

Epilepsy: diagnosis

The most informative diagnostic method for epilepsy is a thorough history and detailed information on the manifestations of seizures. In physical and neurological examination, special attention should be paid to the identification of neurological symptoms that may indicate the etiology and localization of the epileptic focus.

Epilepsy and epileptic seizures: symptoms

Epileptic seizure is a sudden developing stereotyped episode, characterized by a change in motor activity, sensory functions, behavior or consciousness, and is associated with a pathological electrical discharge of neurons in the brain. Epilepsy is a condition manifested by repeated spontaneous seizures.

Epilepsy: causes

Any damage to the brain may be the cause of the formation of an epileptic focus, but more than half of patients with epilepsy do not show any focal lesions or any other obvious causes.

Social problems in epilepsy

Social problems are among the most important for patients with epilepsy. Although the doctors talk mainly about the frequency of seizures, the side effect of medicines, the results of the surveys, patients often want to discuss very different issues: for example, how to overcome the feeling of rejection arising from seizures, how seizures will affect the possibility of acquiring a profession, restoring at work, schooling.

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