Diseases of the nervous system (neurology)

Addiction: causes of development

When drug addicts are asked why they take this or that substance, most respond that they want to get a "buzz". By this means an altered state of consciousness characterized by sensations of pleasure or euphoria. The nature of the sensations obtained varies considerably depending on the type of substances used.

Addiction

Dependence - a chronic recurrent disorder associated with excessive use of certain substances. Most often, the dependence is caused by nicotine, alcohol, opioids, psychostimulants (in particular cocaine).

Sleep disturbance: treatment

Insomnia is a symptom of a disturbed sleep, which can be a manifestation of various diseases. Therefore, the first step towards the treatment of insomnia should be persistent search for the cause of sleep disorders. Only when establishing the cause of insomnia can develop an effective strategy for its therapy. Since the reasons are different, then the treatment can vary significantly.

Sleep disturbance: diagnosis

The approach to diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders, presented in this chapter, is geared toward physicians who conduct outpatient admission. The modern situation is such that a general practitioner, to whom a large queue sits behind the door, can spend only a very limited time on the patient's admission. Nevertheless, it is recommended to ask the patient a few questions about the quality of sleep, the availability of daytime sleepiness and health status.

Sleep disturbance: epidemiology

The prevalence of sleep disorders and complaints of poor sleep has been the subject of several studies. Surveys conducted in the US, European countries and Australia showed that between 30 and 40% of adults report sleep disturbances, or at least some degree of dissatisfaction with sleep, that occurred during the preceding year.

Sleep disturbance

Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated the widespread prevalence of sleep disorders. Sleep disorders often cause people suffering, reduce the quality of life and productivity of their activities, often cause death (in accidents caused by sleeping drivers), carry a variety of other health threats.

Tourette's Syndrome: Treatment

First of all, the doctor must decide whether pharmacotherapy for a given severity of symptoms is indicated. Tests of drugs with Tourette's syndrome are complicated by a wave-like course with exacerbations and remissions that do not necessarily occur under the influence of drugs. For short-term fluctuations in the severity of symptoms, it is not necessary to respond with an immediate change in the treatment regimen

Tourette's syndrome: diagnosis

Transit ticks are common - about a quarter of schoolchildren. The diagnosis is established with the preservation of ticks for at least 4 weeks, but not more than 12 months. The development of chronic tics or Tourette's syndrome may be preceded by several episodes of transient tics. Chronic ticks (XT) include motor or vocal tics (but not their combination), which persist for more than 1 year.

Tourette's syndrome: symptoms

Ticks include a wide repertoire of motor or vocal acts, which the patient feels as violent. Nevertheless, they can be delayed by willpower for a while. The extent to which tics can be delayed varies depending on their severity, type and timing characteristics. Many simple and fast-performing ticks (for example, quick following one after another blinking movements or twitching of the head) can not be controlled

Tourette's Syndrome: What's Happening?

It is believed that Turetg's syndrome is inherited as a monogenic autosomal dominant disease with high (but not complete) penetrance and variable expressiveness of the pathological gene, manifested in the development of not only Tourette's syndrome, but also OCD, chronic ticks-XT and transient tics-TT. Genetic analysis shows that XT (and possibly TT) can be a manifestation of the same genetic defect as Tourette's syndrome. In a study of twins, it was found that in monozygotic pairs the level of concordance is higher (77-100% for all ticks) than in dizygotic vapors - 23%. At the same time, identical twins have pronounced discordance in terms of the severity of tics. A genetic linkage analysis is currently underway to identify the chromosomal location of a possible Tourette syndrome gene.

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