The US National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke has a fairly comprehensive listing of neurological conditions from which you can find out more on each one.  Click here to find the page you need to start your search.

According to the NINDS website (see above), the brachial plexus is a network of nerves that conducts signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm, and hand. Brachial plexus injuries are caused by damage to those nerves. Symptoms may include a limp or paralysed arm, lack of muscle control in the arm, hand, or wrist, and lack of feeling or sensation in the arm or hand. Although injuries can occur at any time, many brachial plexus injuries happen during birth: the baby’s shoulders may become impacted during the birth process causing the brachial plexus nerves to stretch or tear. There are four types of brachial plexus injuries: avulsion, the most severe type, in which the nerve is torn from the spine; rupture, in which the nerve is torn but not at the spinal attachment; neuroma, in which the nerve has tried to heal itself but scar tissue has grown around the injury, putting pressure on the injured nerve and preventing the nerve from conducting signals to the muscles; and neuropraxia or stretch, in which the nerve has been damaged but not torn. Neuropraxia is the most common type of brachial plexus injury.

Brain Tumour, Haemorrhage and AVM (arterio venous malformations)

Brain Tumour Action is an organisation set up to support and help people diagnosed with brain tumours, in direct and useful ways such as through their Befrienders scheme.  The site has a lot of information on brain tumours and statistics on their incidence in the population.

This site is well worth a visit if you have been diagnosed and need somewhere to turn to for help.

There is a useful site by BASIC (Brain and Spinal Injury Charity) which gives information on other conditions.

These include brain tumours, brain haemorrhages and arterio venous malformations (AVM's).  There is also information about the brain and its functioning before and after trauma or illness.

This is a US site but the information is useful whatever your country of origin.

http://www.parkinsonsinstitute.org/movement_disorders/essential_tremor.htm

A website dedicated to links, research, articles on chemical sensitivity and chronic fatigue conditions.  Includes information about Gulf War Syndrome.

28.2.03 Request for volunteers to help on oxygen research trials, click here for more details.

Cluster Headaches Annual Conference 2003 -Sunday 29 June...details

There is a UK website dealing with this disabling condition where you will find lots of useful information and chat rooms on the subject.   Monday 3 February's Press and Journal newspaper also carried a feature on the condition which you can read here.  

We now have leaflets outlining what exactly cluster headaches are, their treatments and prognosis, as well as copies of the newsletters produced by OUCH UK to date.  Many thanks to OUCH UK for all their help in supplying information and the extra bonus of membership.

There is also a video tape of a Discovery Channel documentary recorded on 9.2.03 about migraines and Cluster headaches.  If anyone wants to borrow this, please call in and we'll be pleased to let you see it.

There is an article on cluster headaches that is particularly recommended reading by OUCH UK.

Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome (HSS) is a rare, inherited, neurological movement disorder characterized by the progressive degeneration of the nervous system (neurodegenerative disorder). Recently, one of the genetic causes was identified; however, there are probably other causative genes that exist that have not yet been found. Approximately 50% of individuals with a clinical diagnosis of HSS have gene mutations in PANK2, which helps to metabolize vitamin B₅. 

The common feature among all individuals with HSS is iron accumulation in the brain along with a progressive movement disorder. Individuals can plateau for long periods of time and then undergo intervals of rapid deterioration. Symptoms may vary greatly from case to case, partly because the genetic cause may differ between families. There are likely different genes that that cause HSS; and furthermore, different mutations within a gene could lead to a more or less severe presentation. The factors that influence disease severity and the rate of progression are still unknown. 

Common features include dystonia (an abnormality in muscle tone), muscular rigidity, and sudden involuntary muscle spasms (spasticity). These features can result in clumsiness, gait (walking) problems, difficulty controlling movement, and speech problems. Another common feature is degeneration of the retina resulting in progressive night blindness and loss of peripheral (side) vision. In general, symptoms are progressive and become worse over time.

Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) is an uncommon neuromuscular disorder characterized by weakness in muscles of the upper arms and upper legs, and less commonly, muscles of the neck, speech, swallowing, breathing and eye movement. LEMS is an autoimmune disease, referring to the fact that antibodies are produced by the body against its own tissues. The frequency of LEMS is less than one in every 1,000,000 people. The disorder is not hereditary.

For the full text of this article, follow this link.

The Migraine Trust has a website from which you can find a number of useful sources of information.

Neuromuscular Conditions back to top

The UK Muscular Dystrophy organisation covers many of the less common neuromuscular conditions including those not always associated with MD.  This link is included in case the condition you are looking for is in this category.

Click here for the direct link to their site.  Each condition has its own fact sheet.

The condition is due to malfunction of the central nervous system, probably in those parts of the brain called the basal ganglia. In primary (or ‘idiopathic’ torsion) dystonia no other functions of the brain are involved and investigations reveal no identifiable cause. In a minority of cases, specialised tests can identify known causes that damage the basal ganglia, and the dystonia in these cases is called ‘secondary’ or ‘symptomatic’.

According to the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association UK, trigeminal neuralgia is an extremely severe facial pain that tends to come and go unpredictably in sudden shock-like attacks. The pain is often described as stabbing, shooting, excruciating, burning, extremely strong. The pain usually lasts for a few seconds, but there can be many bursts of pain in quick succession. It is a chronic disorder of the trigeminal nerve (or 5th cranial nerve).

For further information, try the UK support group site or there is also a US site which has useful contacts and information.

We have received from the Tuberous Sclerosis Association of the UK a "Practitioner's guide" to the condition as well as a leaflet giving "clinical guidelines for the care of patients with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex".   These are available in the Nerve Centre for anyone interested to see.

According to the TS Association, Tuberous sclerosis derives its name from the tuber-like growths on the brain which calcify with age and become hard or sclerotic. These lesions show up as small white patches on a CT-brain scan in most patients with TS. If they have not yet calcified (perhaps in a very young baby) they may not be seen on a CT-scan, but will be seen on MR images

Abnormal TS growths can affect almost any other organ of the body (including the skin, eyes, heart, kidneys and lungs) but they may cause little in the way of problems. Doctors find them helpful, though, in confirming the diagnosis.

There is further support and information available on the Tuberous Sclerosis Association's website.