Neuropsychological disorders
Epilepsy
Is a chronic neurological condition characterized by temporary changes in the electrical function of the brain. Transmission of information between nerve cells occurs by electrochemical process, so these abnormal electrical patterns in the brain activity result in seizures. During a seizure, several aspects of mental function can be affected. It includes awareness, movement, sensation, or a combination of these three. The cause of epilepsy is unknown in about 80% of cases. Common causes for the other 20% include head trauma, tumors, infections, strokes, anoxia, and lead poisoning.
Symptoms of epilepsy:
Include headache, changes in mood or energy, dizziness, fainting, confusion, memory loss and babbling. An aura may signal seizure activity.
Diagnostics
Diagnostics methods may include blood tests and procedures such as CT scan, EEG, magnetic resonance, imaging (MRI), and lumbar puncture. To be diagnosed with epilepsy, a person must have had at least two documented seizures initiated by neurological causes.
There are a lot of identified types of seizures, but the most common are generalized tonic clonic, absence, and complex partial. Other less common forms of seizures include simple partial, partial seizures with secondary generalization, tonic, atonic, myoclonic, and unclassified forms.
Generalized tonic clonic (grand mal):
Loss of consciousness, sudden cry, fall, rigidity (tonic), erratic muscle contractions of jerks, possible incontinence, rapid heart rate, and cyanotic with blue lips or fingernails.
Absence (petit mal)
It may include a blank stare, grimace, chewing, rapid eye blinks, or lack of awareness of surroundings.
Complex partial (psychomotor or temporal lobe)
It may include an aura, blank stare, chewing, lack of awareness of surroundings, wandering, acting dazed, mumbling, picking at clothing, trying to remove clothes, of being afraid and struggling.
Treatment:
Medications, a ketogenic diet, vagus nerve stimulation, and surgery are various forms of treatment.
Physical activity:
Persons with seizures can participate in almost all sports and physical activities. The critical factor is that seizures be kept under control. The main worry is that persons would be doing something that could risk bodily harm if they had a seizure ( racing cars, skydivings ).Regular exercise often inhibits seizure activity. This phenomenon is potentially caused by lowered blood pH, beta-endorphin release, increased mental altertness and attention suppress the electrical activity. In addition, regular mental activity tends to decrease seizure frequency. People with convulsive disorders are often over-protected, usually living a sedentary lifestyle and not being allowed to do normal activities. They tend to be physically unfit and avoid sports participation. Poor cardiorespiratory development from inactivity appears to be related to the frequency of seizures. The exercise training should be the same as those of any other person at similar fitness level.
Not recommended exercises:
Boxing, swimming under water and soccer (because of heading). Other activities requiring special monitoring include swimming and anything from heights (rock climbing, gymnastics, horseback riding)
Degenerative brain disease – Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic degenerative disorder that is the most common cause of dementia among older people. The pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease begins in the entorhinal cortex and proceeds to the hippocampus, an important structure in memory formation. As the hippocampal neurons degenerate, short-term memory falters. In the region attacked by Alzheimer’s disease, nerve cells or neurons degenerate, losing their connections of synapses with other neurons. Atrophy of the cerebral cortex results in intellectual impairment, which progresses from increasing loss of memory to total disability. The duration of Alzheimer’s disease from time of diagnosis to death can be 20 years or more, with average length 4 to8 years. At the present time there is no cure for this disease and, for the most part, treatment has been limited. Medications like antidepressants, hypnotics, and neuroleptics are used to treat psychiatric symptoms frequently associated with dementia.
Physical activity
Exercise training for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease has three major challenges:
- Problems arising from the declining physical and mental health
- Behavioral changes that may cause the client to become agitated with the exercise program or the exercise setting
- Care givers’ willingness to continue bringing the person to the exercise program as the disease progresses
Recommended exercises - corrective exercises for maintaining proper posture, physical activity aimed at developing cognitive and memory functions, psychomotor exercises and games aimed at developing self-sufficiency.
It should be remembered that it is common for persons with Alzheimer’s disease to have a higher level of restlessness and agitation at the end of the day. Therefore, the exercise program should be conducted during the early hours of the day, preferably in the morning, when the person’s agitation level is usually at its lowest. If the client is exercising at home with a family member, a daily walk may be the optimal manner of establishing a structured routine.
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy I a nonprogressive lesion of the brain occurring before, at, or soon after birth that interferes with the normal development of the brain. Cerebral palsy is characterized by limited ability to move and maintain balance and posture because of the damage to areas of the brain that control muscle tone and spinal reflexes. The resulting changes in muscle tone and spinal reflex sequelae depend on the location and extent of injury within the brain.
This brain injury has two common etiologies:
- Failure of brain to develop properly:
- Occurring within the first and /or second trimesters of embryonic development
- Disruption of normal developmental process, which may be caused by genetic disorder, chromosomal abnormality, or faulty blood supply
- Neurological disorder:
- Injury to brain before, during, or after birth
- Lack of oxygen, bleeding in brain, toxic injury or poisoning, head trauma, metabolic disorder, or infection of nervous system
Physical activity
Given the nature of this physical disability, there is no reason to expect that persons with cerebral palsy cannot benefit from a regular program focusing on muscular strength, flexibility, and aerobic endurance. Some literature shows that trainability of persons with CP can be achieved. There is also evidence of improved sense of wellness, body image, and capacity to perform activities of daily living, as well as the apparent lessening of severity of symptoms such as spasticity and athetosis.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or AD/HD or ADD) is a developmental disorder. ADHD is diagnosed in about 2 to 16 percent of school aged children. ADHD is diagnosed two to four times more frequently in boys than in girls.
ADHD management usually involves some combination of medications, behavior modifications, lifestyle changes, and counseling. Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are the key behaviors of ADHD. It is hard to find symptoms for ADHD because it is hard to draw the line between normal and hyperactive behavior.
Symptoms:
Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another, have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new, daydream, struggle to follow instructions, talk nonstop, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight, have trouble sitting still, have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities.
Cause:
ADHD is the most common developmental disability. "Developmental" means that the disability is caused by delayed brain development (immaturity). The specific causes of ADHD are not known. There are, however, a number of factors that may contribute to, or exacerbate ADHD. They include genetics, diet and the social and physical environments.
Bright people with ADHD often show great creativity and flexibility in their thinking, and their high energy can lead to immense productivity. To take advantage of these assets, however, it is important for people with ADHD to find ways of coping with the negative aspects of the disorder. Exercises that target short-term memory and organizational skills can help.
Physical activity
Physical activities that are recommended for children with ADHD can be divided into a few categories.
Concentration games
Paragraph counting exercise game, backward counting game, skipping counting game, origami, relaxation and positive Imagery games, crossword puzzles and picture puzzle games.
Physical concentration games
Starfish exercise, snow angel, bow and arrow, sixes and eights, viewing the dot on the wall, near far exercise.
Fast and explosive games
Ball tag, pilates volleyball, thousand hands, snake tag.