.: Lumbar Puncture Top Related Articles
1). Meningitis and Encephalitis: What's the Difference?
"Meningitis" and "encephalitis" are two words that pop onto most people's radar screens from time to time, and usually in some scary context, like hearing of a cluster of cases in their child's school, or reading media reports of epidemics occurring nationally or internationally. While most people understand that these words mean there is some sort of infection of the nervous system, other distinctions and implications are often left unstated and, as a result, can be vague or confusing.
Article tags: meningitis, encephalitis, virus, viral, bacteria, bacterial, infection, csf, cerebrospinal fluid, lumbar puncture, spinal tap
2). Early Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis: Difficult But Important
The principal dilemma in current management of multiple sclerosis is that while early diagnosis enables damage-sparing treatment to begin, diagnosing MS too early increases the likelihood of treating people who don't actually have the disease. Current disease-modifying drugs are all given by injection and cost about $14,000 per year. Apart from being inconvenient and expensive, there is some risk of harm from them which, if the patient doesn't actually have MS, occurs without any offsetting benefit.
Article tags: multiple sclerosis, ms, diagnosis, treatment, mri, csf, cerebrospinal fluid, neurologist, lumbar puncture
3). Hydrocephalus: Too Much Water on the Brain
It can be surprising to realize that an organ as high-powered and sophisticated as the brain also has a plumbing system. And, as the case with a house's plumbing, the drainage side of the system can get gummed up. But the symptoms are different. When a home's drainage backs up, well...I won't go there. When the brain's drainage system backs up, the brain's owner can become confused, incontinent of urine and unsteady on his or her feet.
Article tags: hydrocephalus, normal pressure, internal, external, obstructive, shunt, dementia, confusion, incontinence, lumbar puncture, spinal tap, nph, gait disorder, neurosurgery, diagnosis, treatment