Brain Disease

∞ generated and posted on 2016.02.14 ∞

Diseases and conditions of the central nervous system are numerous ranging from injuries to psychological disorders to tumors and cancers. Diseases of central nervous system-associated special senses include those affecting balance, hearing, sight, smell, and taste.

Of the brain: Alzheimer's Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brain aneurysm, cerebral palsy, concussion, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, degenerative nerve disease, dementia, encephalitis, epileptic seizure, Huntington's disease, hydrocephalus, intracerebral hemorrhage, meningitis, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disease, Parkinson's disease, poliomyelitis,seizure, spongiform encephalopathy, stroke, traumatic brain injury

Of the spinal cord: meningitis, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disease, poliomyelitis, severed spinal cord, spina bifida, spinal cord injury, spinal stenosis, syringomyelia, transverse myelitis

Affecting balance (balance disorders): bilateral vestibulopathy, disequilibrium, labyrinthitis, Ménière's disease, otosclerosis, perilymph fistula, presyncope, superior canal dehiscence syndrome, vertigo

Affecting hearing or the ears more generally: hearing loss, otitis media, tinnitus

Affecting sight or the eyes more generally: albinism, allergies, astigmatism, blepharospasm, blocked tear duct, cataracts, color blindness, conjunctivitis, corneal abrasion, detached retina, diabetic retinopathy, farsightedness, floaters, glaucoma, keratitis, lazy eye, macular degeneration, myopia, nearsightedness, pink eye, retinitis pigmentosa, retinoblastoma, scleritis, strabismus, trachoma, vitamin A deficiency

Affecting smell or the nasal cavity more generally: agnosia, anosmia, chemosensory dysfunction, dysosmia, hyposmia, parosmia, phantosmia

Affecting taste (taste disorders): ageusia, chemosensory dysfunction, dysgeusia, hypogeusia, phantom taste perception

This page contains the following terms: Cataract, Glaucoma, Otitis media


Loss of transparency of the lens of the eye.
As the lens of the eye consists of protein, a cataract represents an opacity of the otherwise transparent complex of protein making up the lens. This opacity can be partial or instead total, that is, affecting only a portion or instead the entirety of the lens. Cataracts commonly lead to blindness – and in fact are a leading cause of blindness – but otherwise are routinely treatable, on an outpatient basis, via surgery. The surgery involves a combination of removal of the discolored lens and its replacement with an artificial lens (plastic lens). The key risk factors leading to cataracts are UV exposure such as from sunlight in combination with smoking.

Links to terms of possible interest: Blindness, Cataract, Cataract surgery, Eye, Eye disease, Lens of the eye, Plastic lens, Pupil, Smoking, Sunlight, Ultraviolet light, UV

The above video depicts cataract surgery, here with simpler narration.

The above video depicts the surgical removal of a cataract and replacement with an artificial lens, here with greater detail supplied during the narration (and a little coughing at the end to really freak you out ;–>).

Hank Green explains why we shouldn't stare at the sun, or even much look at the sun if we can help it.


Eye disease characterized by excess pressure of the aqueous humor and blindness if left untreated.
The aqueous humor is the fluid filling the front of the eye and the pressure of this fluid can increase if rates of fluid production come to exceed rates of fluid drainage. The consequence of the resulting excessive pressure of the aqueous humor is excessive pressure on the vitreous humor, the fluid that fills the larger chamber of the eyeball as found behind the lens. Excessive vitreous humor pressure, in turn, can result in death of neurons of the retina and consequent permanent loss of sight. So too glaucoma can result in damage to the optic nerve.

Links to terms of possible interest: Aqueous humor, Blindness, Death of neurons, Eye, Eye disease, Glaucoma, Optic nerve, Retina, Trabecular meshwork, Vitreous humor

The above video gives a rapid overview of what glaucoma is all about though comes across basically as an infomercial.

Otitis media

Infection of the middle ear.
The result is an earache, potentially severe and as particularly affects small children. These infections often are precipitated by Eustachian tube blockage, that is, particularly temporary loss of the middle ear's ability to drain, which also is more likely in small children. Confirmation of diagnosis is usually accomplished via visualization of the tympanic membrane, i.e., the eardrum.

Links to terms of possible interest: Auditory bones, Earache, Eardrum, Eustachian tube, Infection, Middle ear, Otitis media, Tympanic membrane

The above video is a reasonably good introduction to otitis media.