Brain & Nervous System Disorders

Recently Answered

• QWhat causes tremor besides Parkinson’s disease?

  2 Answers

  A

  

  A St Francis Medical Center answered

  There are other conditions that cause tremor besides Parkinson's disease. For example, essential tremor is a different form of tremor. A person with a tremor and the following characteristics may have essential tremor rather than Parkinson's disease:

  • lifelong tremors
  • tremors in both hands instead of one hand
  • tremors that get really bad in social situations
  • tremors that sometimes get a little better with alcohol consumption
  • tremors in the head where the head bobs up and down
  • family history where other people in the family have these types of tremors in both hands or in their head

  Following are characteristics of tremor and other things not related to tremor that can be more consistent with Parkinson's disease:

  • advanced age
  • tremor starts on one side
  • increased stiffness on the same side as tremor
  • tremor happens primarily at rest
  • tremor goes away with activity
  • decreased arm swing
  • worsening feeling of balance
  • sleep disturbances
  • constipation

  All of these are good enough reasons to get an evaluation with a neurologist or a movement disorder specialist to find out if they could be related to Parkinson's disease.

  Trinity Health is a Catholic health care organization that acts in accordance with the Catholic tradition and does not condone or support all practices covered in this site. In case of emergency call 911. This site is educational and not a substitute for professional medical advice, always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider.

  See All 2 Answers
• QWhat are the causes and risk factors of microcephaly?

  3 Answers

  A

  

  A Chippenham Hospital - HCA Virginia answered

  Unfortunately we don’t know what causes microcephaly. Some babies have it because of changes in their genes. Conditions like Zika virus, rubella, toxoplasmosis and cytomegalovirus may cause it. There also seems to be a possible link with severe malnutrition, but we haven’t nailed down exactly what that link is.

  See All 3 Answers
• QWhat is microcephaly?

  3 Answers

  A

  

  A March of Dimes answered

  Microcephaly is a birth defect in which a baby’s head is smaller than expected, compared to babies of the same sex and age. Babies with mild microcephaly often don’t have problems other than small head size. Babies with severe microcephaly may have lifelong health problems, including intellectual and developmental disabilities.

  We don’t know for sure what causes microcephaly in most babies, but these things may cause microcephaly in some babies:

  • Gene changes (also called mutations) or chromosomal conditions
  • Being exposed to alcohol or certain drugs or chemicals in the womb
  • Being exposed to certain infections in the womb, including Zika virus, chickenpox (also called varicella), rubella (also called German measles), toxoplasmosis or cytomegalovirus
  • Brain problems, like cerebral anoxia, craniosynostosis or traumatic brain injury
  • Metabolism or nutrition problems

  Learn more at marchofdimes.org/microcephaly

  See All 3 Answers
• QCan aspirin be used to treat moyamoya?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  Aspirin is not recommended as long-term treatment for people with moyamoya. While aspirin is frequently prescribed to bridge a patient to surgical treatment for moyamoya, if doctors wait for surgery just utilizing aspirin, about half the patients will still progress with strokes and other symptoms due to moyamoya.

• QWhat can I do if my child has headaches and I suspect moyamoya?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  If you suspect that your child has headaches due to moyamoya and also has other neurologic symptoms such as weakness on one side of the body or face, speech difficulties that come and go, or neurocognitive decline, then your child should be evaluated by a pediatric neurologist. In the workup for your child, in the appropriate setting, the pediatric neurologist may order a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to look for moyamoya. Headaches happen a lot, but it is also a rare presentation of moyamoya, and treatment of headaches related to moyamoya is often very effective in relieving those headaches.

• QWhich children are good candidates for moyamoya surgery?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  Children are good candidates for moyamoya surgery if they have symptoms attributable to moyamoya and angiographic findings suggestive of progressive moyamoya. These findings include a Suzuki grade 2 angiographic appearance or "ivy sign" on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

• QIs moyamoya hereditary?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  Moyamoya is hereditary in only approximately 15 percent of cases. In the other 85 percent, it happens sporadically, without a hereditary basis.

• QWhat are the benefits of having moyamoya surgery at a high-volume facility?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  There are benefits to having moyamoya surgery done at a high-volume facility. One study showed that patients are exceedingly more likely to go home without any in-hospital complications if their procedures are done at high-volume centers familiar with moyamoya patients.

• QIs one type of surgical bypass technique for moyamoya better than another?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  The direct surgical bypass technique for moyamoya has theoretical benefits over indirect bypass, but its superiority remains unproven. At this point, both have been proven very effective. While very few centers have expertise in direct bypass techniques, we at UCLA use a number of proprietary advanced imaging modalities and assessments to create recommendations for each individual person as appropriate for their situation.

• QWhat are the benefits of surgery for moyamoya?

  1 Answer

  A

  

  A UCLA Health answered

  While the natural history of moyamoya includes high risk of stroke, neurocognitive decline and motor deficits, bypass surgery is very effective, significantly improving rates of neurologic decline and motor deficits, and essentially halting the risk of stroke in approximately 90 percent of patients.