Definitions of Disorders

Adult Attention Deficit Disorder
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, several studies done in recent years estimate that between 30 and 70 percent of children with ADHD continue to exhibit symptoms in the adult years. Typically, adults with ADHD are unaware that they have this disorder—they often just feel that it’s impossible to get organized, stick to a job, or keep an appointment. To be diagnosed with ADHD, an adult must have childhood-onset, persistent, and current symptoms. The accuracy of the diagnosis of adult ADHD is of utmost importance and should be made by a clinician with expertise in the area of attention dysfunction.

Alzheimer's Disease
Dementia is a decline in mental ability that usually progresses slowly, in which memory, thinking, judgment and the ability to pay attention and learn are impaired, and personality may deteriorate. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In AD, parts of the brain degenerate, destroying cells and reducing the responsiveness of the remaining ones to many of the chemicals that transmit signals in the brain. Abnormal tissues (called senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles) and abnormal proteins appear in the brain and are recognizable by doctors during an autopsy. Watch Video

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. The disease belongs to a group of disorders known as motor neuron diseases, which are characterized by the gradual degeneration and death of motor neurons. Watch Video

Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral disorder in school-aged children. There are three subtypes based on the kinds of behavior and symptoms displayed: Hyperactive-Impulsive Type, Inattentive Type, and Combined Type.by doctors during an autopsy.

Autism
Autism is a brain disorder that affects development. Autism can affect a person’s ability to communicate, relate to others, and interact with his or her surroundings. Signs of autism usually appear by about 18 months of age. It is usually diagnosed between the ages of two and three. There is no cure for autism but early diagnosis and treatment can help people with autism lead more fulfilling lives.
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an illness characterized by prolonged, debilitating fatigue and multiple nonspecific symptoms such as headache, recurrent sore throat, muscle and joint pain and memory and concentration problems. It is marked by a dramatic difference in the pre- and –post-illness activity level and stamina. CFS shares symptoms with many illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, lupus, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, hypothyroidism, hepatitis, Lyme disease and depression. CFS is also known as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS).

Chronic Pain
While acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself, chronic pain is different. Chronic pain persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. There may have been an initial mishap—sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain—arthritis, cancer, ear infection, but some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage.

Early Stage Memory Loss
Early-stage Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed in some—but not all—individuals. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) begins slowly. At first, the only symptom may be mild forgetfulness. People with AD may have trouble remembering recent events, activities, or the names of familiar people or things. Simple math problems may become hard to solve. An early, accurate diagnosis of AD helps patients and their families plan for the future. It gives them time to discuss care options while the patient can still take part in making decisions. Early diagnosis also offers the best chance to treat the symptoms of the disease.

Epilepsy/Seizure Disorder
Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by the tendency to have recurring seizures (electrical discharges in the brain that disturb normal brain function).

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a lifelong organic brain disorder caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. The affected person may have: height, weight and growth deficiencies, a specific pattern of facial features, central nervous system damage, i.e., a unique cluster of behavioral symptoms.

Fibromyalgia
The Fibromyalgia syndromes (myofascial pain syndromes, fibromyositis) are a group of disorders characterized by achy pain and stiffness in soft tissues, including muscles, tendons (which attach muscles to bones) and ligaments (which attach bones to each other).

Head Injury
Traumatic brain injury is an insult to the brain, not of a degenerative or congenital nature but caused by an external physical force or by internal damage such as anoxia (lack of oxygen) or tumor.  It may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness, which results in impairment of cognitive abilities and physical functioning.  These impairments may be either temporary or permanent and cause partial or total functional disability or psychosocial maladjustment.

Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities are inabilities to acquire, retain, or broadly use specific skills or information resulting from deficiencies in attention, memory or reasoning and affecting academic performance.

Lupus
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease that results in episodes of inflammation in joints, tendons, and other connective tissues and organs.

Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is a disorder in which the nerves of the eye, brain, and spinal cord lose patches of myelin. When myelin is damaged, nerves don’t conduct impulses properly.

Muscular Dystrophy
Muscular dystrophies are a group of inherited muscle disorders that lead to muscle weakness of varying severity. Other inherited muscle disorders include myotonic myopathies, glycogen storage diseases, and periodic paralysis.

Myasthenia Gravis
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease in which the neuromuscular junction functions abnormally, resulting in episodes of muscle weakness.

Narcolepsy
An uncommon sleep disorder, narcolepsy is marked by recurring irrepressible attacks of sleep during normal waking hours, as well as by cataplexy, sleep paralysis and hallucinations.

Neuropathy
Neuropathies are classified according to the clinical syndrome, pathological features, or etiology.  Neuropathy may be diffuse, affecting many parts of the body, or focal, affecting a single, specific nerve and part of the body. 

Peripheral neuropathy is not a specific, separate disease.  It is a manifestation of many conditions that can cause damage to the peripheral nerves.  The peripheral nervous system includes all nerves not in the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and the spinal cord.  The peripheral nervous system is the nerve system used by the CNS to communicate with the rest of the body, including the cranial nerves and the nerves supplying the internal organs, muscles, skin, and other areas.  Damage to the nerves of the peripheral nervous system impairs communication between the CNS and the rest of the body.

Parkinson’s disease
A slowly progressing degenerative disorder of the nervous system, Parkinson’s disease has several distinguishing characteristics: tremor (shaking) when at rest, sluggish initiation of movements, and muscle rigidity.

Post-Polio Syndrome
Many polio survivors are experiencing new disabling symptoms 20-35 years after recovery from acute polio. These symptoms include new weakness in muscles, new muscle and joint pain, reduced endurance, severe fatigue, increased sensitivity to hot and cold temperatures, difficulty sleeping, difficulty swallowing & breathing.

Stroke
A stroke (also called a cerebrovascular accident) is the death of brain tissue (cerebral infarction) resulting from lack of blood flow and insufficient oxygen to the brain.

Tourette’s syndrome
Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder in which motor and vocal tics occur frequently throughout the day for at least one year.

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