Brain diseases come in different forms. In this article, we have listed 5 neurological disorders that can permanently impact your brain.
The brain is a complex yet crucial organ that is responsible for performing various functions in the body. These functions may include regulating body temperature, controlling emotions, thoughts, breathing; heartbeats, feeling sensations, and motor skills. It is important to maintain your brain health to effectively combat diseases that can cause serious complications like cognitive loss and even permanent brain damage in some cases. Severe conditions like traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), strokes, brain tumors, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease can decline brain health.
On World Brain Day, Dr Pankaj Agarwal, Head of the Department of Neurology, Gleneagles Hospital Parel Mumbai shared 5 common neurological conditions that can impact brain functioning. Scroll down to read!
World Brain Day 2024: 5 Common Conditions That Can Damage Your Brain
- Traumatic brain injury (TBIs): refers to brain injury after a road traffic accident where the head is impacted physically leading to brain trauma. It can severely affect brain cells creating disturbance in performing day-to-day activities. TBI usually occurs when an individual experiences a sudden jolt or injury in the brain or the body. It is one of the leading causes of permanent disability and even death in India and worldwide. This can disrupt communication between the nerve cells. Further results in the release of certain chemicals in the brain that can aggravate the symptoms.
- Stroke: It is a serious condition that occurs due to sudden reduced blood flow to a small or large part of the brain. Brain cells are then unable to get nutrients and oxygen through blood, resulting in the death of brain cells within a few minutes. It can significantly affect your ability to move one or both sides of the body or face, speak, to see, and even think and make simple decisions. Stroke can be serious and life threatening and if patients reach the hospital early, may be benefited by emergency clot buster medicine or clot removal (thrombectomy).
- Brain tumor: A type of condition causing abnormal growth of cells in the brain. It can negatively affect your brain health and functions resulting in problems such as difficulty in maintaining proper balance, frequent mood swings, and sudden changes in the way you think, speak, or hear. Brain tumors can be benign (non-cancerous cells), or malignant (cancerous cells).
- Parkinson’s disease: In this condition, one experiences certain symptoms like tremor, slowness and stiffness of movement, poor balance while walking or coordination. It may also lead to symptoms such as memory problems, hallucinations, poor ability to smell, constipation and poor sleep, and increased uro early frequency. These symptoms start to worsen over time impacting one’s daily life. This happens when your brain is unable to produce enough of a brain chemical called dopamine. Recognising the symptoms early and treating them with mediation can improve quality of life. In advanced cases, DBS or deep brain stimulation can be very helpful for PD.
- Alzheimer’s disease: It is a progressive brain disorder meaning it starts to exacerbate over time and can significantly cause damage to your brain. This leads to one experiencing severe complications such as mood changes, memory loss making it difficult to remember certain events or situations, struggling to complete daily activities, and a decline in sense of smell. People with Alzheimer’s need to be cautious and frequently supported by family members or loved ones to complete daily activities.
Remember, it is essential to take necessary precautions and safety measurements regarding brain health. For example, using a helmet while riding a bike, recognising symptoms of brain disease early, seeing a neurologist, avoiding smoking and tobacco, treating diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease, doing regular physical activity to keep your brain healthy.