This short section lists abbreviations, clinical procedures, laboratory
tests, pathological conditions and associated words relating to the
nervous system and is for reference. Note it is not necessary to learn
these as part of the medical terminology course.
Only very common words that a medical secretary may need to refer to in a
patient's general practice surgery record are included. Scroll down the
page:
| AD | Alzheimer disease |
| ALS | amyotrophic lateral sclerosis |
| CJD | Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease |
| CN | cranial nerve |
| CSF | cerebrospinal fluid |
| CVA | cerebrovascular accident |
| ECT | electroconvulsive therapy |
| EEG | electroencephalogram |
| ICP | intracranial pressure |
| KJ | knee jerk |
| LP | lumbar puncture |
| NCVs | nerve conduction velocities |
| PR | plantar reflex |
| UTI | SDH |
| absence seizure | momentary absence of consciousness of thought or activity (seen in epilepsy) |
| agnosia | condition of inability to recognize the significance of sensory stimuli |
| aphasia | condition of without speech (inability to speak) |
| apraxia | condition of inability to perform purposeful movements |
| aura | a peculiar sensation that may precede a migraine or epileptic fit |
| agnosia | condition of inability to recognize the significance of sensory stimuli |
| bradykinesia | condition of slow movements |
| concussion | temporary loss of consciousness following a blow to the head |
| contusion | visible bruising and or bleeding of the brain due to trauma |
| delerium | abnormal mental state characterized by hallucinations |
| dementia | condition of deterioration in mental functioning due to pathological changes in the brain e.g. Alzheimer disease |
| demyelination | process of losing the myelin sheath that lies around nerve fibers, seen in multiple sclerosis |
| dopamine | a neurotransmitter found in the central nervous system |
| embolus | a blood clot or other foreign body in the blood stream |
| gait | manner of walking |
| grand mal | form of epilepsy characterized by sudden loss of consciousness and tonic-clonic seizures |
| insomnia | condition of inability to sleep |
| laceration | tearing of the brain from a wound |
| lethargy | drowsiness, apathy, indifference or sluggishness |
| palsy | paralysis (partial or complete) |
| paralysis | loss of movement and/or sensory function in some part of the body |
| petit mal | form of epilepsy characterized by absence seizures |
| rigidity | inflexibility, stiffness, resistance to the passive movement of a limb |
| stupor | a lowered level of consciousness |
| tonic-clonic seizure | convulsive seizure marked by loss of consciousness, stiffening of muscles and, twitching and jerking movements |
| Cerebral angiography | technique of making an X-ray of the brain following injection of contrast medium into the bloodstream |
| Computed tomography | technique of making X-rays of cross-sections through the body |
| CSF analysis | cell counts, bacterial smears and cultures enable diagnosis of infection in the cerebrospinal fluid |
| Electroencephalography | technique of recording the electrical activity of the brain |
| Lumbar puncture | removal of cerebrospinal fluid by inserting a needle between lumbar vertebrae into the subarachnoid space |
| Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) | a technique of using a magnetic fields to produce an image. Widely used for imaging soft tissues such as the brain. |
| PET Scan | Positron Emission Tomography. The body is scanned and imaged following injection of radioactive tracers. Used to diagnose and treat neurological problems such as stroke, epilepsy and Alzheimer disease |
| Alzheimer disease | deterioration of mental capacity (dementia) often beginning in middle age |
| Aneurysm | abnormal dilation of an artery that may rupture |
| Bipolar affective disorder | formerly called manic depression is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings including emotional highs (mania or hypermania) and lows (deprssion) |
| Brain tumor | abnormal growth of cells in brain tissue or surrounding meninges |
| Cerebral palsy | paralysis and loss of motor control due to damage to the cerebrum |
| Cerebrovascular accident | disruption of blood supply to the brain, a stroke or cerebral infarction |
| Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease | progressive dementia caused by an infectious prion protein |
| Epilepsy | convulsive brain disorder characterized by recurrent seizures (fits) |
| Hematoma | blood filled swelling e.g. subdural h. or intracerebral h. |
| Huntington chorea or Huntington disease | degenerative inherited brain disease showing mental decline and involuntary dance-like movement |
| Hydrocephalus | abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain |
| Manic depression | an older term for what is now known as bipolar affective disorder (see above) |
| Meningitis | inflammation of the meninges (membranes around the CNS) |
| Motor neuron disease | degeneration of motor neurons in the CNS, also known as Lou Gehrig disease |
| Multiple sclerosis | disease characterized by replacement of myelin sheaths around neurons with hard plaques, that can cause severe disability and death |
| Myasthenia gravis | autoimmune disease that blocks impulse transmission weakening muscles |
| Parkinson disease | degenerative disease of the CNS characterized by shaking, rigidity and difficulty walking |
| Schizophrenia | psychotic illness characterized by loss of contact with reality |
| Sciatica | pain along the path of the sciatic nerve in the leg |
| Shingles | viral disease affecting peripheral nerves |
| Spina bifida | congenital defect in the spinal cord due to failure of vertebrae to fuse |
| Tourette syndrome | disorder characterized by involuntary twitching movements, inappropriate gestures and obscene words |
| Transient ischemic attack | sudden reduction in blood flow in part of the cerebrum |