Brain Diseases List

The center of the nervous system in vertebrates and invertebrates animals is called the brain. The brain of the vertebrates is found in the center of the head, and is covered and protected by the skull. The brain is very near to the primary sensory system such as: hearing, taste , smell, vision and balance. The sheet of neutral tissue and outermost to the cerebrum of the brain is called cerebral cortex, which is responsible for   the memory, attention, perception and awareness, thinking, speech and consciousness. The cerebral cortex  contains more or less 15 to 33 billion neurons,  depending on the age and gender. The organ system of the body, activating the muscles and cause chemical secretions like hormones and the neurotransmitters are controlled by the brain. The group of brain diseases in neurosurgery areas such as cancer, infectious diseases, head injury or brain injury from trauma, cancer and tumors. These brain diseases can affect the brain .

Here’s the brain diseases list:

Frontal lobe is also known as post central-gyrus.

1) Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease

The most common form of human brain disease  and is compared to as the “Mad Cow’s disease” is the Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. This disease can also affect farm animals like sheep, goat, elk and deer. In Africa, it is called “kuru“, named after the discovery of a cannibal tribe who eat the flesh of their dead relatives. Most of these tribes are infected with “kuru” after eating infected human corpse.

2) Huntington’s Chorea Disease

The Huntington’s chorea, a hereditary brain disease wherein the affected parent has 50% of passing the gene to their children. The symptoms of Huntington chorea begin at ages 30 to 50 years old but in some cases, people who are affected shows signs at a very young age. People with Huntington’s disease have lost their ability to perform basic autonomic brain functions like  breathing and swallowing. There are no specific time when it will start to attack the patient, and no cure for this disease yet; the lack of ability to swallow often times results in choking. Five of Robert Bishop’s children (pictured above) are suffering Huntington’s chorea disease (HD), which they inherited from their mother, Amy.

3) Epilepsy

The common chronic brain disorder accompanied by seizures and symptoms of abnormal hypersynchronous neuro activity in the brain is called epilepsy. Children are commonly affected by epilepsy until they get older, but it can affect anyone anytime and at no specific age. Epilepsy can be controlled, but there are no  cure. But there are epilepsy syndromes which is confined to some stages of childhood and are not lifelong syndrome. Epilepsy are sometimes misunderstood as single brain disorder, but it is a syndrome with different phases.  The symptoms is contributed to abnormal brain electrical activity. Here are some known celebrities with epilepsy syndrome:

Danny Glover was born in 1946, an American actor and film director who had epilepsy at the age of 15 to 35 years old.

Margaux Hemingway born February 16, 1954, is an American actress and model she had epilepsy at the age of 7 until the time of her death. Her cause of death  was suicide by intentional OD of Phenobarbital drug, which is anticonvulsant to control seizures.

Hugo Weaving born April 4, 1960 is a British-Australian stage and film actor, and best known for his role as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy movies, and Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and many more. His first seizure attack was at age 13 and since then he is taking his anticonvulsant medications.

4) Lafora Disease

 

Lafora disease or Lafora progressive myoclonic epilepsy, is a genetic disorder with presence of “lafora bodies”, within the neurons and cells of the heart, liver, muscle and the skin. Lafora is considered a fatal autosomal genetic disorder, and most patient diagnosed with lafora don’t live before they reach 25 years old.

5) Parkinson’s Disease

 

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disorder of the central nervous system. Causes of PD are still unknown. The most common symptoms are involuntary shaking, spasticity or rigidity (altered skeletal muscle tone movement with hypertoria (tightness of muscles), slow movement, difficulty in walking and having pattern movement of the limbs (gait). Behavior and cognitive problems are the most problem of PD patients and dementia occurs in advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism or Pakinsonian syndrome are the main motor symptoms of PD, and most cases affects the elderly and some starts at age 50. Here are famous celebrities who have Parkinson’s Disorder:

 

Michael J. Fox, an American actor best known for his role “Back to The Future Trilogy”, born on June 9, 1961, was diagnosed Parkinson’s disease (a degenerative disease of the brain and central nervous system in 1991).

Freddie Roach born 1960, former boxer and a notable boxing trainer of Manny Paquiao, was  also diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

6)  Bipolar Syndrome

Manic depression disorder or bipolar disorder is a diagnosed psychiatric syndrome characterized by mood disorder, caused by abnormal episodes of energy levels and cognition accompanied by depressions. Mania, is the elevated moods, and the milder state of mood with pervasive and persistent behaviors are called ” hypomania”. Delusions and hallucinations are psychotic symptoms caused by extreme manic episodes of bipolar disorder. The bipolar disorder has been subdivided: bipolar l, bipolar ll, cyclothemia (serious mental disorders and moods causing hypomanic and depressive episodes) and bipolar spectrum, moods based on the nature and state  experience. Bipolar Disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified)varies on the situation and the diagnosed disorder don’t fall within the specific subtype of bipolar.

Here are some known celebrities are diagnosed with bipolar syndrome:

Jean Claude Van Damme, American action star born on October 18, 1960, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Ben Stiller, actor, comedian and film director diagnosed with bipolar disorder, born on November 30, 1965.

Linda Hamilton, born September 26, 1956.

Catherine Zeta Jones, 41, diagnosed with bipolar after facing stress in the past years. She is the wife of famous actor Michael Douglas, who was diagnosed with cancer.

7) Tourette  Syndrome

 

The neuro-psychiatric disorder that starts i early childhood, caused by motor tics, one phonic tic which can be decrease gradually in degree. Tourette is known as spectrum of tic disorders, including transient and chronic tic. In some cases Tourette is inherited from the parent, and was considered rare disease, accompanied by socially non appropriate disparaging remarks or exclamation. Tourette syndrome has unknown cause, however the etiology are based on genetics and environment. Sudden repetition of nonrhythmic motor tics or movements, uttering of degrading words, blinking eyes, or sneezing very often and many “mannerism” are symptoms seen in a Tourette syndrome patient.

Migraine

The chronic neurological disorder described as moderate to severe headache, accompanied by nausea, called migraine headache, which is more common on women than in men. Unilateral migraine, headache that affects half of the head and contracting like a heartbeat and lasts from 4 to 72 hours, with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and sounds or noises  and sometimes becomes worse. Familial hemiplegic migraine, a family member having the same condition;  Sporadic hemiplegic migraine, severe headaches with aura and weakness of motor;  Retinal migraine, having visual disorder or sometimes causes temporary blindness of one eye. Depression, irritability, moody, and mental and emotional behavior are most common symptoms of migraine attack.

9) Meningitis

Meningitis brain disease is the inflammation of the membrane protection that covers the brain and spinal cord, caused by small infectious agents called virus, large domain of single-celled or group of microorganism, commonly known bacteria and some causes by drugs. Meningitis are sometimes life-threatening if the inflammation on the brain and spinal cord are severe, and this case is known “medical emergency”. Severe headaches, stiffness of the neck with fever, loss of orientation with altered consciousness, vomiting, irritable to light (photophobia) and noise (phonophobia). If rashes are visible to patients with meningitis, meningococcal bacteria is present. The “lumbar puncture” is the process of extracting spinal fluid or the “cerebrospinal fluid (CSF),  from the spinal canal. Antibiotics and antiviral drugs are the most common medication for treatment of the infectious brain disorder. Serious long term of meningitis and improper medical treatment can lead to epilepsy, deafness, hydrocephalus and  cognitive disorder.

10) Hydrocephalus

The abnormal accumulation of Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the cavities or ventricle of the brain, a medical term for “water of the brain”, known as hydrocephalus disease, where the fibrous tissues connecting the bony plates that made the heads to expand according to age of infected with hydrocephalus. In some cases, the head cannot expand, when the fibrous connections becomes bony and hard.

 Macrocephaly

Macrocephaly abnormal enlargement of the head including scalp,  cranial bone and cranium contents.

11) Anencephaly

Anencephaly  cephalic disorder due to neural tube of the head failed to close, in the 23rd to 26th days of pregnancy and portion of the brain, skull and sclap are not developed, thus infants are born with undeveloped forebrain, which is the largest part of the brain, mainly part of the cerebral hemisphere including neocortex, responsible for higher level of thinking, movement and normal behavior. The remaining brain tissues are not covered by the skull and skin and are exposed, and most babies born with anencephaly do not survived during birth.

12)  Holoprosenphaly (HPE) / Cyclopsia/Synophtalmia disorder

 

 

 

If the forebrain of the embryo (prosenphalon) failed to develop into two hemispheres this cephalic disorder is known as Holoprosencephaly (HPE). It was formerly called ” arhinencephaly”. On the 5th and 6th weeks of pregnancy, the forebrain should be formed and the face begins to develop; but when the hox genes (which helpplacemet of embryonic structures) failed to develop with the normal cephalic midline, that allows the left and right  structures to be paired,  to join together. When the forebrain of the embryo failed to divide forming bilateral cerebral hemispheres (left and right halves of the brain), then defects in development of the face, brain structures and functions occur. Less severe cases of holoprosenphaly are when the babies are born normally but with face deformities that affects the eyes, nose and upper lips and lack of olfaction functioning,  sense of smell or single central incisor (anosmia).  Moderate HPE results to  having a cleft lip or  cleft palate. The severe cases of HPE results to Cyclopsia or synophtalmia proboscis.

Cleft lip and palate is also known as “premaxillary agenesis”.

13) Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy occur during childbirth or after birth or till age three, and common type is the spastic cerebral palsy, damaging the motor control center of the brain development. This disorder is non-contagious motor condition and non-progressive causing physical disability of the human development and other main areas of the body.

14) Brain Injury / Head Injury

Traumatic head injury caused by car accident, sport accident or fall from high structures is a serious condition damaging the brain internally. There are some cases of traumatic head injuries where there is no trace of skull fractures. Open head injury occur when the scalp or skinhead is torn and caused open wounds; while the closed head injury, the skin is not breached but the skull is fractured.

Brain Death also known as “persistent vegetative state, usually the patient is in coma, a condition in which the patient lost cognitive neurological functions, physically alive but basically the mental function has no capacity to move, talk and in vegetative state. In some cases, comatose patient can hear voices and can move some finger or facial expressions.

Craniotomy (head and brain surgery)

The surgical operation of the head is called “Craniotomy”, wherein the bone flap is removed temporarily removed from the skull to have an access to the brain.

15) Brain Tumor and Brain Cancer

The intracranial solid neoplasm is otherwise known as the brain tumor, an abnormal growth of cells between the brain and the central spinal canal and includes all tumors growth inside the cranium. Brain tumors can be malignant or benign, but can be serious and life threatening. In children, most common location of tumor growth is at the intracranial cavity or posterior cranial fossa (large opening in the floor of the fossa) in children, while in adults, it develop at the anterior of the cerebral hemispheres (one of the two regions of the eutheran brain), but in some cases, it can affect any part of the brain.

Brain Cancer

Brain cancer are  malignant tumor growth in the brain.

16)  Stroke

The medical term cerebrovascular accident (CVA) are commonly known as stroke, the rapid loss of brain functions due to inability of blood supply into the brain . It caused by blockage thrombosis (blood clot), arterial embolism (sudden interruption of blood flow), causing internal hemorrhage (leak age of blood) affecting area of the brain and inability to function  and inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body (left or right) or known as hemiplegia, a total paralysis of the arm, leg and trunk. Hemiplegia can be acquired from illness, stroke and congenital, inability to understand or speech. Stroke is considered a medical emergency, and the risks of complications that can cause permanent neurological damage, complications and death. Factors that causes stroke are old age, hypertension or high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol level, cigarette smoking, atrial fibrillation and had previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Hypertension or high blood pressure is the risk factor for stroke attack.

Silent Stroke or mild stroke, a stroke with no outward symptoms and the patient is unaware that they are suffering from stroke attack. However, silent stroke still causes brain damage to the brain and can cause risk for transient ischemic attack and major stroke.

17) Schizophrenia

 

John Nash is a US Mathematician and winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize for Economics, suffered from Schizophrenia, and his life story won the 2001 Academy Awards for the film Beautiful Mind. Nash developed paranoid schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia , is a mental disorder described as emotional responsiveness, hallucinations, perceiving sounds (paracusia) most common is they hear voices talking, paranoid or paranoia (influenced by anxiety or fear), becoming irrational delusions or beliefs, disorganized speech and thought disorder (TD) or formal thought disorder (FTD) with significant social or occupational dysfunction. Genetics or heredity, early environment, nerve system or  drug  abused, anxiety, unemployment and poverty are found causes to worsen the disorder.

18)  Akinetic Mutism

Audrey Santo, an Akinetic mutism patient she acquired from an accident at the age of 3. She died on April 14,2007 at age 23.

Akinetic Mutism described as a semi-coma situation, unable to talk (mutism) or move (akinesia), caused by severe frontal lobe injury. One example of akinesia mutism is the disorder of olfactory groove meningioma disease, a rare degenerative brain disease, and acute encephalitis lethargica also seen in the final stages of Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease. Ablation or removal of skin through surgery (aged skin, wrinkles, such as rejuvinating of skin), causes akinesia mutism if the cingulate gyrus is destructed.

19) Facial Trauma (Maxillofacial Trauma)

Facial trauma also known as maxillofacial trauma is a physical trauma caused by accident or severe head injury, affecting the soft tissue injuries like lacerations, bruises, burns or facial fractures such as the nasal fractures, jaw fractures, skull fractures and eye injuries. The nasal fracture and maxilla (base of the skull) can cause severe Epistaxis (nosebleeding).

20)Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The ADHD or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is considered as psychiatric disorder among children that begins and detected before 7 years old. This developmental disorder, is described as the co-existence of behavioral and attention problem and hyperactivity that occurs when the child is alone. It is considered as chronic disorder to children diagnosed with ADHD and have the symptoms till adulthood. It  is difficult to determine when children begin to have ADHD, when the normal level of hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattention levels start with the disorder. ADHD caused by pregnancy complications, like hypoxia(lack of oxygen to the fetus during pregnancy) or premature birth. We have known celebrities with ADHD, and here are some:

Cameron Diaz, American actress and former model, born on August 30, 1972.

Salma Hayek, born on September 2,1966, a Mexican film actress.

Paris Hilton,  born on February 17, 1981, the famous and controversial heiress of Hilton Estate.

Jim Carrey, born on January 17, 1962, diagnosed with ADHD.