Disorders of the Nervous Tissues and the Brain

 Alcohol-induced Neurotoxicity - progressive disease that starts with experimentation and

progresses to addiction, usually over the course of several years. It involves the loss of control
over the ability to abstain from the alcohol and an excessive preoccupation with obtaining and
using the alcohol.
 Alzheimer’s Disease - progressive disorder that causes brain cells to waste away (degenerate)
and die. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia — a continuous decline
in thinking, behavioral and social skills that disrupts a person's ability to function
independently.
 Cerebral palsy - disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture that is caused by damage that
occurs to the immature, developing brain, most often before birth. In general, cerebral palsy
causes impaired movement associated with abnormal reflexes, floppiness or rigidity of the
limbs and trunk, abnormal posture, involuntary movements, unsteady walking, or some
combination of these.
 Cerebrovascular accident - sudden death of some brain cells due to lack of oxygen when the
blood flow to the brain is impaired by blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain. A CVA is
also referred to as a stroke.
 Concussion - injury to the brain that results in temporary loss of normal brain function. It
usually is caused by a blow to the head. In many cases, there are no external signs of head
trauma. In many cases, a person with a concussion never loses consciousness.
 Contusion - a form of traumatic brain injury, is a bruise of the brain tissue. Like bruises in
other tissues, cerebral contusion can be associated with multiple microhemorrhages, small
blood vessel leaks into brain tissue.
 Epilepsy - central nervous system (neurological) disorder in which brain activity becomes
abnormal, causing seizures or periods of unusual behavior, sensations, and sometimes loss of
awareness.
 Migraine - are a recurring type of headache. They cause moderate to severe pain that is
throbbing or pulsing. The pain is often on one side of the head. One may also have other
symptoms, such as nausea and weakness.
 Hematoma - generally defined as a collection of blood outside of blood vessels. Most
commonly, hematomas are caused by an injury to the wall of a blood vessel, prompting blood
to seep out of the blood vessel into the surrounding tissues.