Neurology

Neurology is the medical specialty that studies diseases of the Nervous System (brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscle).

The main diseases it treats are as follows:

• Memory loss: this symptom may be the initial stages of dementia (eg Alzheimer's) but often the cause is benign. Making this distinction is of utmost importance.
• Headache: the most frequent being tension headache and migraine, where effective relief treatments are now available.
• Tremor: The most frequent causes of this symptom are Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, each having a specific treatment, so a correct diagnosis is essential.
• Epilepsy: seizures manifest themselves with sensory or transient motor symptoms with or without alterations of consciousness. It is very important to establish the cause and treat with the appropriate anti-epileptic medication.
• Stroke: Arthrosclerosis and heart disease are the most common causes of strokes. Preventing them reduces the risk of having a heart attack or of a cerebral hemorrhage.
• Sleep disorders: Excessive drowsiness and insomnia may have different causes that need to be investigated. Sleepwalking, night terrors, recurrent nightmares, and behavioral disturbance during sleep are diseases that interfere with nighttime sleep.
• Pain in the Limbs: The most frequent neurological causes of pain in the upper limbs are lesions of the cervical nerve roots and carpal tunnel syndrome. In the lower limbs the cause is sciatica. Myalgia may be due to diseases of the muscles (myopathy).
• Other diseases treated by Neurology are multiple sclerosis, changes in gait and balance, polyneuropathies.