What does neurology do?

There are many departments in the hospital, and each department has its own advantages. For example, the ENT department mainly focuses on diagnosing and treating diseases related to the five senses, while the internal medicine department mainly focuses on diseases related to the internal organs of the human body such as the intestines, stomach, and lungs. In addition, neurology, as the name suggests, is also related to neurological diseases. So, what diseases does neurology treat?

The Department of Neurology mainly diagnoses and treats cerebrovascular diseases (cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage), migraine, brain inflammatory diseases (encephalitis, meningitis), myelitis, epilepsy (convulsions), Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, ataxia, torsion spasm, autism, senile dementia, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic diseases and genetic diseases, trigeminal neuralgia, sciatica, peripheral neuropathy (numbness and weakness of the limbs) and myasthenia gravis and other neurological diseases, using CT, EEG, TCD (transcranial Doppler ultrasound) and blood rheology examination and other detection methods. At the same time, functional diseases such as neurasthenia and insomnia are diagnosed and treated.

Neurological examination

The neurological physical examination requires examination of all body systems, but the focus is on the nervous system. The examination covers cranial nerves, motor nerves, sensory nerves, and nerve reflexes. In addition, the patient's coordination, posture and gait, autonomic nervous system function and cerebral blood supply should also be checked.

Cranial nerve examination

Doctors check the function of the 12 pairs of cranial nerves, which are directly connected to the brain. Trauma, tumors, or infection can damage any part of the cranial nerves. Examination is needed to determine the exact site of the injury.

Examination of the locomotion system

Motor nerves control voluntary muscles (Voluntary muscles produce movement, such as the leg muscles that allow walking). Damage to a motor nerve can cause the muscles it controls to become paralyzed or weakened. Lack of peripheral nerve stimulation can lead to muscle atrophy (primary atrophy). The doctor asks the patient to do pushing and pulling movements against resistance to understand the strength of each muscle group.

Sensory nerves

Sensory nerves carry sensations of pressure, pain, heat, cold, vibration, movement, and patterns to the brain. Check whether the sensory nerves are normal by checking the body's surface sensation. When a patient experiences numbness, tingling, or pain in a part of the body, the doctor first pricks that part with a sharp needle and then pricks the same area with a blunt needle to determine whether the patient has the ability to distinguish between sharp and dull sensations.

reflection

A reflex is an automatic response of the body to a stimulus. For example, tapping the tendon below the knee with a percussion hammer will produce a reflex in the lower limb. This reflex is called the knee tendon jerk (it is a deep tendon reflex). The knee tendon reflex demonstrates the combined function of the sensory nerves entering the spinal cord, the synaptic connections within the spinal cord, and the motor nerves returning to the lower limb muscles. The reflex arc is a complete loop from the knee to the spinal cord and back to the leg, without involving the brain.