Neurology

When you have a brain tumor, your Neurologist is often the first to diagnose the problem with diagnostic tests such as an MRI. Your Neurologist will then work with your medical team to determine the best form of treatment. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

There are many types of dementia. It is a disease that affects memory, social abilities and thinking severely enough to interfere with daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of a progressive dementia in elderly patients, but there are a number of causes of dementia. Your Memorial Neurologist is trained to diagnose and assess dementia to ensure you receive the best care possible.

Neuropathy (also called peripheral neuropathy) is a condition that affects the normal activity of the nerves of the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral nervous system is made of the nerves that connect the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to the rest of the body. Neuropathy occurs as a result of nerve cells receiving damage or being destroyed. The way the neurons communicate with each other and with the brain is affected resulting in a variety of symptoms including tingling, numbness, weakened muscles and others.

Your Memorial Neurologist begins by identifying and treating any underlying medical problem causing your neuropathy such as diabetes or infections. Your treatment plan may include therapy, medication, mechanical aids such as braces or specially designed shoes, and healthy habits such as proper nutrition and maintaining a healthy weight.

A seizure is a sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain. It may cause changes in behavior, movements or feelings, and in levels of consciousness.

Most seizure disorders can be controlled with medication. Your Memorial Neurologist will work with you to balance seizure control and medication side effects. He or she will order tests to rule out other conditions that cause seizures or similar symptoms.

When blood flow to a part of the brain stops, a stroke occurs. If blood flow is cut off for longer than a few seconds, the brain cannot get nutrients and oxygen. Brain cells can die, causing lasting damage. Stroke care varies from patient to patient depending on the areas of the body affected. Your Neurologist can work with you to help prevent future strokes through medication and various tests to determine the cause of your stroke.

An intracranial hematoma is a collection of blood in the skull. It is often caused by trauma or a rupture of a blood vessel inside the brain.

Hematoma treatment often involves surgery:

• Surgical drainage: If the blood is localized and isn’t clotting a lot, your doctor might create a burr hole through your skull and use suction to remove the liquid.
• Craniotomy: Large hematomas may require your surgeon to open the skull to remove the blood.

Huntington’s disease is an inherited disease causing the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. Huntington’s has a big impact on patient’s abilities and often results in cognitive, psychiatric and movement disorders.

Treatments can’t prevent the physical, mental and behavioral decline that results from this condition, but your Memorial Neurologist can prescribe medications to help manage the symptoms of Huntington’s disease.

The rubbery cushions between the individual bones (vertebrae) that make up your spine are known as disks. A herniated disk occurs when some of the softer part of the disk pushes out of a tear in the tougher exterior. Most herniated disks are known as herniated lumbar disks because the problem occurs in your lower back (lumbar spine). They can also occur in your neck (cervical spine). This is known as a herniated cervical disk.

The first treatment for a herniated disk is a short period of rest and taking medicines for the pain. This is followed by physical therapy. Most people who follow these treatments recover and return to normal activities. If further treatment is needed, your Memorial Neurologist may recommend steroid injections or surgery.

A spinal tumor is a growth of cells (mass) in or surrounding the spinal cord.

Any type of tumor may occur in the spine, including:

• Leukemia
• Lymphoma
• Myeloma

Treatments include:

• Corticosteroids
• Emergency surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Physical therapy

Neck pain can result for many reasons such as

• Herniated cervical disc
• Cervical disc degeneration
• Injury
• Arthritis
• Congenital abnormalities of the vertebrae and bones
• Tumors

After determining the reason for neck pain, treatment may include

• Exercise
• Rest
• Medication
• Neck brace or immobilization
• Physical therapy
• Surgery

Your spine consists of many bones called vertebrae. Your spinal cord is inside a canal in the center of these bones. Nerve roots split from the cord and travel between the vertebrae. When the nerve roots are pinched or damaged, this results in radiculopathy. Nonsurgical treatment is often recommended first. Surgery sometimes reduces the pressure on the nerve root by widening the space where the nerve roots exit the spine.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition in which there is excessive pressure on the median nerve. This is the nerve in the wrist that allows feeling and movement to parts of the hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to numbness, tingling, weakness, or muscle damage in the hand and fingers. Your Memorial Neurologist may recommend wearing a splint for several weeks, placing warm and cold compresses on the affected area, and avoiding sleeping on your wrists. If these recommendations do not help, he or she may perform carpal tunnel release. This is a surgical procedure that cuts into the ligament that is pressing on the nerve.

Sciatica refers to pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling in the leg. It is caused by injury to or pressure on the sciatic nerve. Sciatica is a symptom of a medical problem. It is not a medical condition on its own. As sciatica is a symptom of another medical condition, the underlying cause should be identified and treated. In some cases, no treatment is required and recovery occurs on its own. Conservative (non-surgical) treatment is best in many cases.

Ulnar neuropathy puts pressure on the ulnar nerve when the elbow is bent. This reduces the supply of blood to the nerve. Over time, this causes damage to the nerve. When the “funny bone” is hit, this pulls the ulnar nerve into the bony groove of the cubital tunnel. This leads to a characteristic tingling sensation in the small and ring fingers. Your Memorial Neurologist may recommend exercises to help prevent stiffening in your arm and wrist and to aid the ulnar nerve to move through the cubital tunnel. If physical therapy does not help, your Neurologist may recommend ulnar nerve decompression surgery, a minimally invasive surgery to divide the ligament that makes up part of the cubital tunnel.

Muscle diseases affect the function of muscles because of problems with the nerves and muscles in your body. The most common symptom patients of these diseases experience is muscle weakness.

Some of the most common Muscle Diseases include

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscular dystrophy
• Myasthenia gravis
• Myopathy
• Myositis, including polymyositis and dermatomyositis
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Spinal muscular atrophy

Your Memorial Neurologist can provide comprehensive evaluation and treatment of these diseases.