Why Visit an Emergency Room? Brain & Nervous System Disorders
The brain and the nervous system are what regulate and control your body so that one can have full command over their intelligence, decisions, senses and muscles. These are therefore very important when it comes to the normal functioning of the body. If the body was say a computer, the brain and the nervous system would be the central processing unit, the CPU; that is how crucial it is to the body. It is therefore no surprise that any condition that affects them would not only have a profound effect on the functioning of the body, but also would be potentially life-threatening, especially if not treated with the seriousness that is required. There are different types of brain and nervous system disorders, all of which are due to different reasons and causes. However, one thing that does bring them all together is the fact that they are quite serious and as such should all be treated with seriousness. This article will look to highlight some of these brain and nervous system disorders and just why it is important to visit the emergency room for the same. We will do so by highlighting the consequences of not visiting an emergency room as well as highlighting why the emergency room is well placed to handle these emergencies.
The first brain and nervous system disorder we are going to highlight is arguably the most serious; stroke. Strokes, as is discussed in detail over at frontlineer.com by the subject matter experts over there are caused when the flow of blood to part of the brain is interrupted or cut off. This is without doubt a medical emergency and requires immediate medical attention by visiting an emergency room as soon as possible. The reason why one should visit an emergency room pronto for a stroke has mostly to do with the consequences one stands to suffer if they chose not to. These consequences, since the affected part is the brain which controls a number of things in the body, depends on the part of the brain that has been affected by the stroke. The consequences range from impairment of vision, movement, sexual ability, extensive memory problems, among others. A stroke in the brainstem is the even worse as if left untreated it could lead to extensive damage and problems with breathing and heart functions, balance and coordination as well as paralysis, coma or even death. It is therefore important to visit an emergency room as soon as possible as far as stroke is concerned.
Another brain and nervous system disorder that should be treated as an emergency by ensuring one heads over to an emergency room as soon as they can, is epilepsy. Epilepsy, as is discussed in detail by the gurus over at frontlineer.com, is a neurological condition that is characterized by two or more unprovoked seizures. People with epilepsy in a nutshell have a tendency to have recurrent seizures. While there are seizures that may not necessarily be medical emergencies, those that lasts for more than five minutes are definitely medical emergencies. The reason why one should visit the emergency room for severe epileptic attacks is because if they don’t, some of the risks they are running include temporary or even permanent memory loss, an increased risk of one suffering an accident due to the epilepsy such as falling, drowning among others as well as death due to complications due to the attack. This is reason enough to visit an emergency room for such emergencies. Another brain and nervous system disorder is Parkinson’s disease, which is a debilitating condition that affects the nerve cells in the body producing dopamine, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Acute complications of Parkinson’s disease should be treated in the emergency room given that if they are not, the consequences include increased risks of falls and accidents, orthostatic hypotension, psychosis, hyperkinetic movement disorders among others, with all these being all potentially fatal.
It is also important to note that, given the serious nature of these brain and nervous system disorders and given that they are all life-threatening, another reason to visit an emergency room when encountered with symptoms indicating you may be suffering related attacks is due to the fact that the emergency room has the capabilities in terms of both diagnosis and treatment facilities to handle these cases, as is covered in detail over at frontlineer.com. when it comes to diagnosis, all the facilities required including blood tests to check for blood clotting capabilities for strokes as well as CT and MRI scanning facilities to examine the brain. Other diagnostic tests involve use of the carotid ultrasound to check if there is buildup of fatty deposits as well as the flow of blood in your carotid arteries which are on your neck and service the brain. Other equipment used include the cerebral angiogram that will give a detailed view of the arteries in your brain and neck as well as an echocardiogram, also known as an echo, which is used by physicians to pinpoint the source of clots in your heart, clots that may have travelled from your heart to your brain and caused the stroke. An emergency room also has facilities for diagnostic tests such as lumbar puncture test, electroencephalogram tests among others, not to mention facilities to administer treatment for all these brain and nervous system disorders.
From this article it is crystal clear why one should visit an emergency room for brain and nervous system disorders, with more on this and other related topics to be found over at frontlineer.com.
