Dr. Aparna Gupta

One of the worst neurological disorders to have is dementia. It is a general term used to describe cognitive decline of the brain. It’s not specific disease but denotes several brain disorders and mental illnesses. A person suffering from dementia can have severe impairment in judgment, loss of memory and thinking. Dementia is a very difficult disease not only for the patient but also for their families and caregivers.

Some facts about dementia are as follows:

• It’s not a mental disorder occurring in old age but it does degenerates with age.
• An estimation of 47.5 million people worldwide suffers from dementia and 60% of these people live in low and middle-income countries and according to WHO this figure is likely to increase.
• Every 4 seconds a new case of dementia is reported

Dementia is a collective term to describe the many types of in people, such as 

• Alzheimer’s Disease: It is one of the most common type of dementia accounting for 60-80% of dementia case. People suffering from Alzheimer’s have fewer nerve cells and the size of the brain shrinks.
• Vascular Dementia: Another most common form of dementia occurring after a stroke.
• Lewy Body Dementia: It is neurodegenerative condition that involves a protein called alpha-synuclein which changes the brain. Symptoms may be similar to Parkinson’s disease.

Symptoms of dementia can range from mild to moderate to severe that includes:

• Memory Loss
• Disorientation meaning inability to focus or pay attention
• Changes in visual perception
• Impairment in reasoning and judgment

Dementia can be caused by damage to brain cells or progressive brain cell death. As a result communication between brain cells become difficult. Other symptoms include:

• Stroke
• Brain Tumor
• Head Injury
• Prion Disease
• HIV Infection

Reversible Factors

• There are no definite tests for dementia. Doctors and neurologists have to medical history, blood tests and CT scans to find out whether a person has dementia or not. However, the most potent evaluation comes from a set of questions that are asked to a patient suspected of having dementia. The ability to answer those questions correctly is one of the best diagnoses for dementia.
• There is no specific treatment for dementia as it is not a curable disease and degenerates with time. However, medicines or drugs given for Alzheimer’s can be given to people suffering from dementia.
• Although results vary depending upon a person’s lifestyle’s and habits, doctors suggest eating healthy, exercising regularly, and stopping smoking and drinking may prevent some types of dementia.
• The best treatment for dementia is to treat the person with care and love so that they don’t feel neglected.

Dementia is often associated with old age but that is not always true. It is important to gain knowledge and educate others also.

Neurology is the branch of science and medicine dealing with the central and peripheral nervous system. The nervous system is made of the brain and spinal cord. The disorders, illness or injuries of the nervous system can become problematic for people suffering from them. One of the worst diseases of the nervous system is Parkinson’s disease.

It is a progressive disorder affecting the central nervous system that leads to slowing down of movement and slurring of speech over a period of time. It is a condition where the nerve cells in the brain producing dopamine (a neurotransmitter) are affected.

Some of the early signs of Parkinson’s include:

1. Tremor: If you have noticed a slight shaking of your hands or limbs, then Parkinson’s might be the cause. The trembling can range from mild to severe as the disease progresses. The back-and-forth rubbing of your thumb and forefinger is known as pill-rolling tremor. One of the most prominent signs is your hand shaking even when it is rested.
2. Bradykinesia (slow movement): As the disease progresses, you may find it difficult to move your hands or legs or going from one place to another. Even making the smallest movement will require an increased effort on your part.
3. Rigid Muscles: The muscles in your body can become stiff causing you pain and making it difficult to perform physical activities.
4. Masked Face: Your face may experience spasms or become stiff periodically. It can also lead to complete paralysis on one side of the face.
5. Stooping or improper balance: Having Parkinson’s disease can make your body posture imbalanced resulting in stooping or hunching over.
6. Decreased Automatic Movements: You may experience difficulty in smiling, blinking or swinging your arms while walking.
7. Alteration in voice or speaking: Your voice can become soft or you may slur while talking. You can also experience a monotonous voice.
8. Writing may become small: You can experience changes in your handwriting as it becomes small and crowded.
9. Loss of Smell: The smell of food sitting right in front of you may not register in your olfactory resulting in loss of appetite.
10. Constipation: Having Parkinson’s disease can lead to patients experiencing irritable bowel syndrome.
11. Have Trouble Sleeping: It might be difficult to fall asleep for people suffering from Parkinson’s. Also, there are sudden movements during the sleeping process.
12. Dizziness: People suffering from Parkinson’s may faint from time to time.

These were some of the symptoms and signs by which you can tell whether a person has Parkinson’s or not. However, as of now it is not curable and can only be treated with medicines. But, early detection can definitely help in preventing it from affecting the whole body.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

“I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first”, are the famous words of a man who, against all odds pursued his passion till the end. 14 March 2018 will always be considered as one of the darkest days as the world mourns the loss of the great Dr. Stephen Hawking, who enlightened people with his theories related to, ‘exploration of general relativity and properties of the black hole’.

At the age of 21 he was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)  or Lou Gehrig’s disease and despite the challenges he faced, he lived his life with fun & vigor.

So, what is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease, which is responsible for controlling the voluntary muscle movement in the body. It is one of the rare neurological diseases and has no cure at present. It is degenerative disease i.e. the condition affected by it will get worse over a period of time and weakens the working of these neurons.

What is the cause of it?

In 90% to 95% of cases, the definitive cause of it is still not known. And, for the remaining cases, there is a possibility that this disease can occur due an inherited genetic history of certain specific genes from their parents.

How the disease affected Stephen?

The symptoms of this disease vary from person to person. Also, the disease has a tendency to spread to unaffected regions of the body with the affected regions turning worse. Due to the progressive nature of the disease, the patient eventually will not able to walk, use their hands & arms, loses his ability to speak, to swallow food or their own saliva, and lastly, it affects the ability to cough & breathe resulting in the death of the patient.

In most of the cases, people who are diagnosed with ALS live up to 2-5 years. However, Hawking was a rare case who survived for over 50 years, since he was diagnosed when he was 21. And, in spite of his disease, he came up with highly elaborate researches such as that of the black hole theory.

How did he survive for so long?

When a patient suffers from ALS it is possible he or she can die due to respiratory failure, or deterioration of swallowing muscles which leads to dehydration and malnutrition. The case of Hawking is still a mystery for both doctors and scientists alike. As, in all ALS cases, the symptoms of cognitive dysfunction or memory dysfunction are common but were proven wrong in Hawking’s case. As per Hawking’s biography ‘A Brief History of Time’, his grasping, and learning ability improved only after his disease.

Due to the progression of his disease, he was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair and was not able to perform day to day activities such as bathing, eating, and even talking. He was only able to move a few fingers. In order to overcome his difficulties, he started using a speech synthesizer that gave him a computerized voice. Also, after reading his case many doctors claimed that the disease progressed slower than it usually does in his case.

Common signs of this disease

• Twitching in muscles of leg, arms and shoulder
• Frequent muscle cramps
• Tightness in muscles
• Muscle weakness in arms and legs
• Slurred speech
• Difficulty in swallowing and chewing

Although the above symptoms can indicate other health ailments in case of continuous occurrence one should consult a doctor immediately. In case of any concern, do consult an expert and get answers. 

Getting hallucinations is a mental condition where a person sees, feels, hears, and tastes things that actually don't exist beyond one's heightened imagination or delusion. It involves the experience of perceiving something not present.  Hallucinations can be pleasing or frightening. However, there is almost always an identifiable cause behind it. 

They can be triggered by:

1. Taking hallucinogenic or psychotropic substances
2. Mental conditions like dementia and schizophrenia
3. Neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease
4. Macular degeneration, leading to loss of vision
5. Migraines and brain tumor can also lead to such delusions

Some of the signs of hallucinations:

1. Hearing voices: The medical term for hearing voices is called an 'auditory hallucination'. A person may sense sounds or noises coming from inside or outside of their mind. The noise might be random or disrupting. One might also feel the voices talking to each other or trying to tell them something. Most of the times, these voices come from inside the person's mind; or in some cases, one's heightened perception may make a normal noise delusional.
2. Seeing things: This is also called visual hallucinations. For instance, one may see unnatural things like a floating chair in thin air. It all depends on a person's perception. Sometimes these hallucinations appear as bright flashy spots or rays of light.
3. False sense of taste and smell: Technically, these are known as gustatory and olfactory hallucinations respectively. One may feel a kind of odor coming from one's body or surrounding; or a person might feel that something he/she is drinking or eating has an odd taste. This is again too much thinking, causing delusional sensory activities. 
4. Tactile hallucinations: This is when a person feels things that don't exist. One may feel that he/she is being touched or tickled even when no one else is around or that insects are crawling beneath the skin. One may experience strange sensations, which are not a part of a reality.