NEUROLOGY
A wide range of conditions can affect the health of your neurological function. Careful clinical assessment of your symptoms along with support from investigations will help us arrive at a diagnosis.
​
Learn more about some of the types of neurological conditions below.
SOME COMMON CONDITIONS
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
MS is a condition that is caused by recurrent episodes of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. People can be affected differently by the condition and treatment might be needed depending on its severity.
EPILEPSY
Epilepsy is a condition that results from a disturbance in the electrical function of the brain leading to epileptic seizures. Accurate diagnosis is important as the right treatment can lead to a reduction of or even complete resolution of seizures.
NEUROPATHY
Neuropathy is a condition that affects the function of the peripheral nerves in your arms and legs. There are many causes of neuropathy, most of which can be detected by performing the correct selection of blood tests.
PARKINSONS DISEASE
Parkinson's Disease is a condition that affects your movements and a variety of other body systems. Common symptoms include a tremor that occurs at rest, slowness of movement, and poor balance. There are different treatments available which are tailored to the severity of the condition.
BENIGN TREMOR
Not all tremor represents Parkinson's disease. There are a lot of people of people who commonly suffer from what is known as Benign Tremor. If correctly diagnosed, this can be treated with medications that help lessen the tremor.
FUNCTIONAL DISORDER
Neurological disorders are not only caused by conditions that affect your nerves or brain cells directly. They can also often be caused by conditions that affect your state of mind. Stress, anxiety, depression or traumatic experiences can also result in a disturbance of neurological function and cause physical symptoms. Diagnosing this requires careful assessment as the treatment options are often different.
NEUROLOGICAL TESTS
MRI SCANNING
Magnetic Resolution Imaging (MRI) is the gold standard in brain imaging for detecting a wide range of neurological conditions. This often makes it the first investigation of choice.
EEG
An Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures your brain's electrical activity. It can be helpful test in people who have been diagnosed with Epilepsy to see where in your brain the abnormal activity might be coming from.
NUCLEAR IMAGING
Whilst MRI and CT scans assess the structure of your brain, Nuclear Imaging scans give us the ability to measure the functional activity of your brain. This includes Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning that can measure the metabolic activity of your brain, and Dopamine Transporter (DaT) scanning which looks for Dopamine loss in Parkinson's Disease.
CT SCANNING
Computed Tomography (CT) scanning is a useful alternative to MRI for patient who are claustrophobic. It is also a very useful technique if we need to perform CT angiography to have a detailed look at the blood vessels in your brain when looking for abnormalities like aneurysms.
EMG AND NERVE CONDUCTION STUDIES
Electromyography (EMG) is a test that measures the function of your muscles or the nerves controlling your muscles through the use of fine needle recordings. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) are electrical tests measuring the function of the nerves in your arms and legs. These are both useful tests for disorders such as neuropathy, myopathy or motor neurone disease.
