Stroke and Neurovascular Disease | Multiple Sclerosis | Encephalopathies | Concussion
Stroke
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted or severely reduced, depriving brain tissue of oxygen and nutrients. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die.
A stroke is a medical emergency. Prompt treatment is crucial. Early action can minimize brain damage and potential complications.
The good news is that strokes can be treated and prevented, and many fewer Americans die of stroke now than even 15 years ago.
Causes
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to your brain is interrupted or reduced. This deprives your brain of oxygen and nutrients, which can cause your brain cells to die.
A stroke may be caused by a blocked artery (ischemic stroke) or the leaking or bursting of a blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke). Some people may experience only a temporary disruption of blood flow to their brain (transient ischemic attack, or TIA).
Ischemic stroke
About 85 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes. Ischemic strokes occur when the arteries to your brain become narrowed or blocked, causing severely reduced blood flow (ischemia).
Hemorrhagic stroke
Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in your brain leaks or ruptures. Brain hemorrhages can result from many conditions that affect your blood vessels, including uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension), overtreatment with anticoagulants and weak spots in your blood vessel walls (aneurysms).
A less common cause of hemorrhage is the rupture of an abnormal tangle of thin-walled blood vessels (arteriovenous malformation) present at birth.
Learn more about Stroke and Stroke Rehabilitation
Neurovascular Diseases
Neurovascular diseases affect the cerebral vascular system and the spinal cord that encompasses any abnormality of the blood vessels within or supplying the brain and spine. Abnormalities may be narrowing of arteries which reduce blood flow to the brain that leads to risk of Stroke and weakening of arteries that leads brain aneurysms and increase the risk of intracranial bleeding.
Common Neurovascular Diseases are brain aneurysms, stroke, arteriovenous malformations, Vasculitis, cerebral hemorrhage, spinal vascular malformations, carotid stenosis, intracranial atherosclerosis, etc.
Aneurysm
A brain aneurysm (AN-yoo-riz-um) is a bulging area within the wall of an artery that supplies the brain. It often looks like a berry hanging on a stem. In most cases, brain aneurysms do not produce symptoms. In some cases, the aneurysm may cause symptoms by pushing on other areas of the brain. Depending on the size of the aneurysm and the area involved, these symptoms can include:
• headaches,
• neck pain,
• blurred vision, and
• speech changes
Vasculitis
Vasculitis is a general term for a group of uncommon diseases that feature inflammation of the blood vessels. The blood vessels of the body are referred to as the vascular system. The blood vessels are comprised of arteries that pass oxygen-rich blood to the tissues of the body and veins that return oxygen-depleted blood from the tissues to the lungs for oxygen. Vasculitis is characterized by inflammation in and damage to the walls of various blood vessels.
Brain Hemorrhages
A brain hemorrhage is a type of stroke. It’s caused by an artery in the brain bursting and causing localized bleeding in the surrounding tissues. This bleeding kills brain cells.
The Greek root for blood is hemo.Hemorrhage literally means “blood bursting forth.” Brain hemorrhages are also called cerebral hemorrhages, intracranial hemorrhages, or intracerebral hemorrhages. They account for about 13% of strokes.
Learn more about Brain Hemmorhages
Encephalopathies
Encephalopathy is a term that means brain disease, damage, or malfunction. Encephalopathy can present a very broad spectrum of symptoms that range from mild, such as some memory loss or subtle personality changes, to severe, such as dementia, seizures, coma, or death. In general, encephalopathy is manifested by an altered mental state that is sometimes accompanied by physical manifestations (for example, poor coordination of limb movements).
Learn more about Encephalopaties
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. Eventually, the disease can cause the nerves themselves to deteriorate or become permanently damaged.
Signs and symptoms of MS vary widely and depend on the amount of nerve damage and which nerves are affected. Some people with severe MS may lose the ability to walk independently or at all, while others may experience long periods of remission without any new symptoms.
Learn more about Multiple Sclerosis
Concussion
A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that affects your brain function. Effects are usually temporary but can include headaches and problems with concentration, memory, balance and coordination.
What causes concussions?
Concussions are usually caused by a blow to the head. Violently shaking the head and upper body also can cause concussions. Some concussions cause you to lose consciousness, but most do not. It’s possible to have a concussion and not realize it. Concussions are particularly common if you play a contact sport, such as football. Most people usually recover fully after a concussion.
Treatment for Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries at The NeuroCognitive & Behavioral Institute
An Interdisciplinary Clinical Team Approach
We use a multi-layered treatment approach when treating Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries. Patients are treated by an interdisciplinary team of clinicians that includes: a clinical neuropsychologist, a clinical psychologist or behaviorist, a cognitive rehab/speech language therapist and a neuromodulation clinician.
We provide a comprehensive combination of traditional, complementary, as well as, experimental treatments not typically available at any other clinics. For instance, when treating cognitive disorders we typically treat by combining cognitive rehabilitation, with cognitive enhancers, and one or more forms of neuromodulation superimposed on comprehensive behavioral health plan that utilizes specific nutrition requirements, heart-rate variability training, maximizing sleep and the reduction of stress. Similar combination therapies are used for treating a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions such as OCD, as well as, in the treatment of chronic pain and fatigue.
Some of these treatments and consultation options include:
Neurocognitive Rehabilitation
Patients admitted to the cognitive rehabilitation program enter a module based on their primary type of cognitive impairment, e.g., the Attention, Working Memory and Executive System impairment module. Each patient will receive specific treatments for this type of cognitive disorder using a combination of remedial, adaptive and compensatory interventions that have been developed at the NeuroCognitive Institute for their module.
Neuromodulation
We often combine cognitive and language rehabilitation with neuromodulation. Neuromodulation is evolving as a treatment option for treating the cognitive, behavioral and psychiatric symptoms and deficits resulting from Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Techniques include invasive procedures such as deep brain stimulation and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as well as, non-invasive techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation tDCS, neurofeedback and rTMS. At NCI, we only use non-invasive neuromodulation intervention combined with other rehabilitation interventions to enhance treatment response.
Speech and Language Therapy
Speech and language therapy focuses on improving speech and abilities to understand and express language.
NCBI has speech therapists who can help assess speech delays, restore speech and language skills from young children to adults with Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Behavioral Health Interventions
Behavioral health interventions focus on changing or modifying a patient’s lifestyle such as diet and introducing specific exercise programs to enhance cortical and cognitive functioning.
Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals
We use various medications to treat the cognitive, neurobehavioral and neuropsychiatric deficits and symptoms of Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
Contact Us
If you or know anyone who needs help, contact The NeuroCognitive & Behavioral Institute for assessment and treatment. Call (973) 601 0100 or sign up as a new patient and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
