Neurophysiology: diseases — симптомы, диагностика и лечение

Epilepsy is a chronic brain disease in which a group of nerve cells periodically produce an excessive electrical discharge, resulting in a seizure. There are still many myths around the disease: it is considered incurable, a mental disorder, or necessarily accompanied by convulsions and falling. In reality, attacks can vary greatly - up to several seconds of "absence" that others do not notice - and the right treatment allows most patients to live without attacks.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common compressive neuropathy. The median nerve is compressed in a narrow canal at the level of the wrist, and the person begins to wake up at night with numbness and burning in the fingers. A characteristic detail by which the syndrome is recognized almost unmistakably: the thumb, index, middle and half of the ring finger are affected, while the little finger remains normal. The initial stages respond well to conservative treatment, but neglected compression leads to irreversible atrophy of the hand muscles.

Polyneuropathy is a multiple lesion of the peripheral nerves, in which the longest fibers going to the feet and hands are affected. Hence the characteristic distribution of symptoms: numbness, burning and tingling begin from the toes and spread upward along the “socks”, later the “gloves” join. Polyneuropathy is not a diagnosis in itself, but a consequence: there is a cause behind it, and the doctor’s main task is to find it. Most often these are diabetes mellitus, vitamin B12 deficiency or alcohol abuse.

Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease in which signal transmission from nerve to muscle is disrupted. Its main distinguishing feature is pathological fatigue: there is strength, but it quickly dries up under load and is restored after rest. Hence the characteristic daily dynamics - in the morning a person feels good, but in the evening the eyelid droops, there is double vision, and it becomes difficult to chew. It is this “changeability” that for a long time makes it difficult to make a diagnosis: patients are often considered malingerers or treated for overwork.