Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease attacks brain cells and neurotransmitters (chemicals that carry
messages between brain cells), affecting the way your brain functions, your memory
and the way you behave. It is also the most common form of dementia.

Dementia is a collection of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain. It
affects thinking, behaviour, and your ability to do normal tasks. About 7 in 10 people
with dementia have Alzheimer’s disease.

Bell’s palsy
Bell’s palsy is a sudden weakness or paralysis of one side of the face. It is caused by
inflammation or damage to the facial nerve. It is usually temporary – most people
recover fully.

Bell’s palsy is a weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles that usually affects just one
side of the face.

It is thought to be mainly caused by an infection with a virus.

Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is a condition in which the ability to control muscles is reduced due to
nervous system damage before, during or after birth. This nervous system damage
affects body movement and posture. It often shows up as either floppy or stiff muscles,
or involuntary muscle movements.

Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common, long-term brain condition where a person has repeated seizures,
and is thought to affect about 3% of Australians.

Having just one seizure is not considered to be epilepsy - about half the people who
have one seizure never have another seizure.

Epilepsy is not one single condition; rather it is a range of different conditions that can
cause seizures.
Motor neurone disease (MND)
Motor neurone disease (MND) is a condition which affects the nerve cells (neurons),
causing weakness in the muscles that gets worse and eventually leads to paralysis. It is
also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS.

The cause is not known, although around 1 in 10 cases are ‘familial’ (meaning the
condition is inherited).

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. It
affects more than 25,000 people in Australia and is 3 times more common in women
than in men.

MS means there is damage to the protective sheath (known as myelin) that surrounds
the nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord. This damage causes scars, or lesions, in
your nervous system, meaning that your nerves can’t send signals round your body
properly.

Neurofibromatosis
Neurofibromatosis is a relatively common genetic condition. The signs and symptoms
differ from person to person, depending on what type they have. Neurofibromatosis is
not yet curable, but it is a manageable and many people with the condition lead normal
lives.

Neurofibromatosis is characterised by the growth of neurofibromas. These are a type of

tumour that is usually benign, or non-cancerous, although occasionally they can be
cancerous. These neurofibromas can form wherever there are nerve cells in the body.

Parkinson's disease
Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the nervous system. It results from damage to the
nerve cells in a region of the brain that produces dopamine, a chemical that is vital for
the smooth control of muscles and movement.

Parkinson’s disease mainly affects people aged over 65, but it can come on earlier.
Sciatica
Sciatica is a condition that can lead to pain in the back and legs.

It occurs when pain travels along the path of the sciatic nerve. This nerve starts in your
lower spine, and travels through your hip and buttock and down the back of your leg to
your foot.

Shingles
Shingles is a painful rash that can cause nerve pain. It is caused by the varicella-zoster
virus, which is the same virus that causes chickenpox. You can only get shingles if you
have had chickenpox in the past.

The shingles rash develops into itchy blisters, usually on one side of the body, either on
the face, chest, back, abdomen or pelvis. They can take several weeks to settle.