Glossary
Glossary of Terms
- Acute: A condition characterized by rapid onset and often severe symptoms, typically of short duration.
- Disseminated: Spread or distributed over a wide area or through the body.
- Encephalomyelitis: Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
- Autoimmune: A condition where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues.
- Demyelination: Damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering of nerve fibers, which disrupts nerve signaling.
- Immune response: The body’s reaction to foreign substances or infections, involving the immune system.
- Inflammation: A localized physical condition in which part of the body becomes reddened, swollen, hot, and often painful.
- Neurological: Relating to the branch of medicine or biology that deals with the anatomy, functions, and organic disorders of nerves and the nervous system.
- Viral infection: Infection caused by a virus, a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism.
- Bacterial infection: Infection caused by bacteria, single-celled microorganisms that can cause disease.
- Meningitis: Inflammation of the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
- Symptoms: Subjective evidence of disease or physical disturbance observed by the patient.
- MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging): A medical imaging technique that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of the body’s internal structures.
- Lesions: An area of abnormal tissue, typically caused by disease or injury.
- White matter: Nerve tissue in the brain and spinal cord that is primarily composed of myelinated nerve fibers.
- Gray matter: Nerve tissue in the brain and spinal cord that contains cell bodies and non-myelinated fibers.
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF): A clear, colorless fluid found in the brain and spinal cord, produced by the choroid plexus.
- Antibodies: Proteins produced by the immune system that help defend the body against foreign substances.
- Treatment: The management and care of a patient for the purpose of combating disease or disorder.
- Prognosis: The likely course or outcome of a disease; the chance of recovery or recurrence.
- Pediatric: Relating to the branch of medicine dealing with children and their diseases.
- Epidemiology: The study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations.
- Recovery: The process of returning to a normal state of health, mind, or strength.
- Recurrence: The reappearance of symptoms after a period of improvement or remission.
- Complications: Secondary problems or conditions that arise during the course of a disease or as a result of treatment.