Neurologic disorders

Neurologic disorders are conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, nerves or muscles, and the word neurologic describes any symptom or finding that arises from the nervous system.

The category is broad: it includes epilepsy and seizures, migraine and other headaches, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, peripheral neuropathy, motor neuron disease, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, and movement disorders such as tremor and dyskinesia. Neurologic symptoms include weakness, numbness, tingling, loss of coordination, tremor, seizures, changes in vision or speech, and changes in memory or thinking. In dogs and cats, seizures, wobbly gait and sudden weakness are the common neurologic presentations.

Neurologists assess these disorders with a structured examination of mental status, cranial nerves, strength, sensation, reflexes and coordination, followed as needed by imaging such as MRI, electroencephalography for seizures, nerve conduction studies and spinal fluid analysis. Cannabinoids have been studied across many neurologic conditions; the strongest evidence is for the approved cannabidiol drug in specific childhood epilepsies and for a THC-containing prescription product in multiple sclerosis spasticity outside the United States, while evidence elsewhere remains early.