Neupsy Key

11 Peripheral neuropathy Introduction Peripheral neuropathy (PN) represents nerve damage outside the central nervous system. It includes lower motor neurone (LMN) damage as well as sensory neuropathies. Radiculopathy (nerve root…

3 The neurological examination Cranial nerves CN I (olfactory nerve) Smell, if tested, requires soft musks, floral and ketone smells rather than astringents, such as ammonia or cloves. The reason…

4 The neurological examination Peripheral nervous system Examination of the peripheral nervous system assumes a stylised approach when adopting the traditional method. This means following a set pattern of: observation…

16 Muscles Introduction Muscle weakness is often automatically thought to reflect muscle disease, but that need not be the case. Weak or wasted muscles may result from a lesion anywhere…

13 Pain Pain is a totally subjective phenomenon. It is the product of a noxious stimulus, which evokes a response in the patient. That response is predicated by the patient’s…

10 Multiple sclerosis Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most dreaded diagnoses in neurology. Patients visualise a fit and healthy person, such as the Olympic athlete Betty Cuthbert,…

5 Non-organic neurological diseases Introduction Many believe that the diagnosis of functional, and for that read non-organic or psychological, disease should be a diagnosis of last resort. Those advocating this…

14 Stroke Introduction All too often a patient presents to hospital saying ‘I thought I was having a stroke but wanted to wait to see what happened’. If not the…

8 Vertigo Introduction All too often the patient presents to the doctor complaining of ‘dizziness’, which is a ‘non-word’ as it is ambiguous and means different things to different people….