Degenerative Nerve Diseases

Degenerative Nerve Diseases

A degenerative nerve disease is one that affects the nerves in such a way that it damages them to the point that affects the way people think. Depending on the disease, it can even affect a person’s motor skills. Essentially, degenerative nerve diseases affect the brain. Degenerative brain disorder occurs from mid to late adulthood. The results from suffering from this disease usually are in progressive (and irreversible) declines in memory and a steady regression of other abilities, mostly cognitive.

In What Way Does Degenerative Nerve Diseases Affect The Brain?

Degenerative nerve diseases speak for themselves; they degenerate the nerves. This happens as it destroys the nerve cells and the neural connections of the nerves in the cortex of the brain. This leads to a significant loss of brain mass. Thus, it leads to various conditions and diseases that are only now being discovered slowly by the medical community.

What Known Brain Conditions Are There?

There are many different degenerative nerve diseases known to the medical community. The most common one, of course, is Alzheimer’s Disease. This disease actually blocks nerve endings or what are known as senile plaques. This is the most common degenerative nerve disease that is related to dementia and it actually accounts for most dementia cases.

Another disease is called Friedreich’s Ataxia and this one is actually inherited and so it is passed on from one generation to another along one family’s line. It is a disease that causes progressive damage to the nervous system and it results in different symptoms. The symptoms may include gait disturbance, speech problems, and even heart disease.

Another degenerative nerve disease called Canavan Disease is also one of the most common of cerebral degenerative conditions of infancy. It is the most common occurring degenerative disease in children that is linked to genes and what happens is that the white/gray spongy material that makes up the brain matter degenerates in to spongy tissue with tiny specks that are filled with fluid. This is a dangerous disease and death of an infant could occur before he or she turns 4 years old.

Leigh’s Disease is another degenerative nerve disease that affects the central nervous system. Also hereditary, it occurs when different mutations occur in the DNA of mitochondria. This also affects children and can happen between the ages of 3 months and 2 years old. You will know if a child has this disease if he or she has trouble sucking, and has a hard time with motor skills such as turning his or her head. The loss of appetite, continuous crying, vomiting, and sometimes seizures are all other symptoms of this disease.

Can You Catch A Degenerative Nerve Disease?

You may notice that most diseases of this class are all hereditary. But if you do not know the medical history of your family, you will not know what to do to prevent the disease from happening, especially in the case of Alzheimer’s Disease that happens later in life. These diseases cannot be passed on from one person in your bloodline to the next and there are still various studies on how one may be able to avoid its development.