What is a neurological condition?
Neurological conditions are health disorders caused by damage to the nervous system which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscle tissue. Conditions that affect the nervous system are most commonly caused by vascular difficulties, injury, infection, loss of oxygen to the brain or as a result of illness.
A neurological condition may cause paralysis of any part of the body. They include multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, dementia, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, Huntington’s disease and acquired brain injury but there are many others.
Many of the precise causes of neurological conditions are not yet known. Neurological conditions affect young and old, men and women and people from all cultures and ethnicities.
Multiple sclerosis is more prevalent in the northern hemisphere.
Some neurological conditions are lifelong or people can experience onset at any time in their lives. Cerebral palsy is present from birth whilst muscular dystrophy appears in early childhood.
Stroke and Parkinson’s disease are commonly thought of as occurring in older people, but there are incidences of stroke and Parkinson’s in younger people. Epilepsy can impact at any time of life with 25% of people who have had a stroke developing epilepsy.
For a full list of named neurological conditions, go to www.ninds.nih.gov/index or www.disabled-world.com
For support groups or branches of national charities, please contact the condition-specific charity. For some rare conditions an organisation may not exist, contact Neuro Key to check local information.