Brain + Spinal cord problems

• What is brain damage

  Any loss of cells to the Brin
• Give examples of what can cause brain damage

  • brain injury
  • brain tumor
  • strokes
  • Alzheimer's disease
• What is brain damage caused by

  Impacts to the skull -> brain swelling -> produces excessive fluid
• What are brain tumors caused by

  Cells start to divide rapidly -> through mitosis -> brain tumor can squash part of the brain -> stops it from working
• What does spinal cord do

  • Spinal cord relays information between brain + rest of the body
• What does damage to the spinal cord do

  Reduces flow of information between brain + parts of the body
• What happens if there is nerve damage in the lower spinal cord

  Loss of feeling in use of legs
• What happens if the neck is damaged

  Los of both arm + legs called quadriplegia
• When is brain surgery required

  When removing excess fluid after a brain injury
• How can brain tumor be removed

  Through surgery depending on which part of the brain they have developed
• Is it possible to surgically remove tumours growing in certain parts of the brain

  No
• Why is surgery always a risk

  Can lead to more damage or to side-effects
• What are other treatments that can treat brain damage

  • Radiotherapy -> high energy x-ray beams
  • Chemotherapy -> drugs that kill actively dividing cells
• What are the downsides to radiotherapy + chemotherapy

  • They can damage the body + healthy parts of the brain
  • Chemotherapy may not work due to blood-brain barrier
• What is the blood-brain barrier

  Natural filter than only allows certain substances to get from blood into brain
• Why cant the spinal cord repair itself

  As the nervous system cells cant repair themselves
• What treatments can be used to help people with spinal cord problems

  • Surgery on their spine
  • Wires to electrical stimulate nerves + muscles
• Why is surgery not always used to treat spinal cord problems

  Many side effects + stem cells taken from embryo is unethical
• what does radiotherapy do

  shoot high energy x-rays beams
• what does chemotherapy do

  drugs that kill actively dividing cells
• how do wires help problems with spinal cord problems

  they electrically stimulate nerves + muscles