The nervous system
- 1. The Nervous System By Mary E. Martin Biology 120
- 2. plegia Origin: Greek -plēgia, combining form representing plēgḗ blow, stroke. Definition: A combining form meaning paralysis, cessation of motion
- 3. Hemiplegia Total or partial paralysis of one side of the body that results from disease of or injury to the motor centers of the brain
- 4. Hemiplegia may be congenital or acquired from an illness or stroke.
- 5. In elderly individuals, strokes are the most common cause of hemiplegia. In children, the majority of cases of hemiplegia have no identifiable cause and occur with a frequency of about one in every thousand births.
- 6. The exact cause of hemiplegia is not known in all cases, but it appears that the brain is deprived of oxygen and this results in the death of neurons. When the corticospinal tract is damaged, the injury is usually manifested on the opposite side of the body.
- 7. Problems may include: Difficulty with gait Difficulty with balance while standing or walking Having difficulty with motor activities like holding, grasping or pinching Increasing stiffness of muscles Muscle spasms Difficulty with speech Difficulty swallowing food Significant delay in achieving developmental milestones like standing, smiling, crawling or speaking The majority of children who develop hemiplegia also have abnormal mental development Behavior problems like anxiety, anger, irritability, lack of concentration or comprehension Emotions- depression
- 8. Hemiplegia is not a progressive disorder, except in progressive conditions like a growing brain tumor. Once the injury has occurred, the symptoms should not worsen.
- 9. Esthesia Origin: 1875–80; Greek aísthēs ( is ) Definition: The normal ability to experience sensation, perception, or sensitivity
- 10. Anesthesia Traditionally meant the condition of having sensation (including the feeling of pain) blocked or temporarily taken away.
- 11. It is a pharmacologically induced and reversible state of amnesia, analgesia, loss of responsiveness, loss of skeletal muscle reflexes or decreased stress response, or all simultaneously.
- 12. The word anesthesia was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. in 1846.
- 13. Types of anesthesia include: local anesthesia regional anesthesia general anesthesia dissociative anesthesia
- 14. Local anesthesia Inhibits sensory perception within a specific location on the body, such as a tooth or the urinary bladder.
- 15. Regional anesthesia Renders a larger area of the body insensate by blocking transmission of nerve impulses between a part of the body and the spinal cord.
- 16. Two frequently used types of regional anesthesia are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia.
- 17. General anesthesia Refers to inhibition of sensory, motor and sympathetic nerve transmission at the level of the brain, resulting in unconsciousness and lack of sensation.
- 18. Dissociative anesthesia Uses agents that inhibit transmission of nerve impulses between higher centers of the brain (such as the cerebral cortex) and the lower centers, such as those found within the limbic system.