This aim of this website is providing health education on all aspects of Brain Health. The ultimate objective is helping patients and general public to achieve the highest level of Brain Health.
It is simply because the brain is the “control centre” of the body – it controls almost everything that happens in our body. The brain controls our movement, breathing, heartbeat, emotion, sleep, eating, drinking, communication, conscious level, thought processing, memory, sensation and decision making.
Thus, it is obvious that without a healthy brain, almost every aspect of our life will be affected – our daily activities, studies, work, interpersonal relationship and social function.
A Stroke survivor is the best example of how important brain health is. A patient with severe Stroke can’t eat, can’t speak and can’t walk. In contrast, a patient who has heart failure and kidney failure (undergoing dialysis) can eat, speak and walk. Many Stroke survivors have significant physical disability that affects their quality of life.
This is the BIG BANG of the century - neurological conditions are now the leading cause of ill health and disability globally, affecting 3.4 billion people worldwide in 2021 (Steinmetz JD et al ; Lancet Neurol 2024 ; 23 : 344–81).
In other words, in 2021, 43% of the global population was affected by neurological disorders such as Stroke, Migraine, Dementia, Meningitis (Infection of the brain), Epilepsy and Brain Cancer.
In addition, Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of death and disability combined in the world (Feigin VL et al ; Lancet Neurol 2021 ; 20 : 795–820).
Therefore, the entire world is definitely facing a “BRAIN CRISIS” which we have to take really seriously.
As such, medical experts have warned that THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW (Winkler AS et al ; Lancet Glob Health 2024 ; 12(5) : e735-e736) – all the relevant health authorities and governments in the world need to collaborate and tackle the issue of global brain health as soon as possible.
Prevention is always better than cure. As far as Stroke is concerned, preventive medicine is vital – the treatment of high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol can prevent Stroke. Dietary control is crucial, in view of the high percentage of obesity in the society and its role in the causation of heart attack and Stroke.
However, in reality, many brain disorders are not preventable, such as Brain Tumour, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Nevertheless, studies have shown that people who drink coffee and tea have a lower risk of getting Parkinson’s disease.
Quality of sleep is very important when it comes to managing Migraine headache. Many people do not have good sleep quality, leading to aggravation of Migraine headache.
Another important aspect of improving Brain Health is knowing when to seek medical consultation (which is discussed in the next section). It is well known that many brain disorders are frequently diagnosed late, leading to delay in treatment.
Very often, patients are not aware of symptoms of medical disorders. And even when they are aware of the symptoms, they are not sure about which specialists to consult, leading to delay in diagnosis and treatment.
Neurological disorders refer to medical condition affecting the brain, spinal cord, nerve and muscle. The main problem about neurological disorders is that they are much more complicated than all other medical disorders - there is a very long list of neurological symptoms which are sometimes difficult to recognize.
It is very important to correctly recognize neurological symptoms because some of them indicate neurological emergency such as Stroke, Bleeding in the brain or Brain Tumor / Cancer which can be fatal and need immediate Neurologist consultation.
In this series of articles, I am going to explain all the neurological symptoms one by one, and discuss their significance.
Ten things you need to know about STROKE 01 Stroke has massive global impact Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of death and …
Difficulty in passing urine is a common problem. Many patients have to wait for some time before they can pass urine.
The ability to smell and taste is one of the functions of the brain. Whenever we smell and taste any food or drinks, the nerve in our nose and tongue sends messages to the brain, where these messages are analysed and interpreted.
Facial pain refers to pain at any part of the face. In general, facial pain is an uncommon symptom.
Overall, loss of hearing or deafness is most commonly caused by ear disorders such as ear infections, noise-induced hearing loss and agerelated hearing loss.
Difficulty in speaking refers to slurring of speech or inability to express oneself in spoken / written words. Some others have difficulty understanding spoken / written
words.
This refers weakness of the facial muscle on one side, which causes asymmetry of the face, resulting in facial droop or “the face being pulled to one side”, especially when patients are asked to smile.
Blurring of vision is a common symptom among patients who present to hospitals or clinics. There are two possibilities – eye disorders and neurological disorders.
This is a challenging neurological symptom to manage because there is a very long list of possible underlying causes.