Spine is an  integral part of the movements and  abilities  of the body. Spine is not a bunch of bones. It is instead a complex channel of nerves that ferry millions of signals between body and the brain. Bones serve the function of protection, apart from providing strength and stability to stand. They protect the spine just like the ribs protect the heart and the skull protects the brain.

spine have undergone  modifications:

Ever since humans began to walk on their legs the dynamics of the spine have undergone several suitable modifications. In animals the spine is horizontal. With evolution walking on two legs gradually evolved for the select purposes in chimps to total bipedal in humans. In the process of transformation spine had to undergo several structural and functional modifications. From horizontal  position some animals evolved to walk with a bent knee and hip to stand up. To accommodate the erect posture in humans knee and hip became straight.

As a compensation the spine got modified with suitable curves . Human spine extends from the neck all the way to the bottom . Though it is in straight line , there are many curves from front to back . The spine can be grossly divided into cervical ( neck area) , thoracic( chest area) , lumbar( abdominal) and sacral and coccyx( bottom area) . The hither too tail of the animals gradually regressed as a small remnant seen as Coccyx( tail bone). In the neck the first two bones got modified to support the head called Atlas and Axis.

The bones of the spine are called vertebrae, which has a thick part called body in the front, pedicles in the middle that has supporting joints and a ring to host the spinal cord called Lamina and the final projecting part backwards is the spinous process. Each part has a distinct function . The body is strong that gives stability to stand, pedicles have the joints that holds all the bones in alignment and the joints provide the mobility, the bony ring protects spinal cord, and finally the spinous process holds the spinal muscles on the back.

Strong muscles facilitates mobility and stability. 

The intervening discs and the surrounding strong muscles facilitates mobility as well as stability. The ligaments in front, back , around the spinal joints decides the range of movements at each level. These movements  vary  from part to part  having maximum movement at  the neck followed by the  lumbar region. There are 7 cervical, 12 thoracic , 5 lumbar , 5 sacral and 5 coccygeal bones. The sacral and coccygeal ones are united together as a single piece that supports the pelvic structures.

In reality disc between the two vertebral bodies acts like a washer and shock absorber  facilitating the movements. All these structures are prone to wear and tear causing degeneration over the time which in turn disturbs the nerve function. When the disc becomes dry it can crack and the inner jelly like structure will come out pressing the nerves causing severe pain. So it is essential to maintain the integrity of all these structures by regular exercises, proper posture, training of supportive muscles and avoiding damage to those sensitive structures.

Though there are lot of checks and balances to prevent damage ,inadvertently one can injure any of them leading to either temporary or permanent damage causing pain and difficulty in movement. The spinal nerves exit at different levels to supply various parts of the body (motor nerves), while the counterparts provide feedback (sensory nerves) to the brain respectively.  In addition fibres from the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) that control lungs, heart, blood vessels, gut, bladder and sexual organs are also located within. Thus spinal cord is essentially a large cable containing millions of delicate fibbers that provides bidirectional connections between the brain and individual parts of the body .

The blood supply to this entire cable is very critical as its ability to endure insults of any kind is poor even comparison to brain. Hence handling these nerves during surgery is a challenge—it is an art. Spinal surgery demands highly specialized training, technology and devices. General perception  is that the spinal surgery is  dangerous. But the right surgery in the right time will not only prevent damage to the nerves but also help recovering. Therefore one need not shun away from spine surgery if needed. Today we have MRI scan that can show all the problems related to any of the above mentioned structures.

BRAINS ( Neuro Spine ) hospital has an exclusive centre for the spine. Apart from CT ,and MRI scans, for diagnosis, the operating Microscope, Navigation, Intra operative 3 D imaging of spine, intra operative monitoring system, sensory and motor evoked potentials, spinal angiography, endoscopic and minimal invasive spine surgeries  and rehabilitation makes the spinal surgery safe and effective under trained Neuro Spine surgeons.

Spine can pose innumerable problems 

Unfortunately being the most used as well as miss used part spine can pose innumerable problems at different stages of life. There can be developmental defects in these bones causing many types of anomalies and deformities ( scoliosis, Kyphosis) in children. Tumors can occur at all ages causing pain, loss of sensation and gradual weakness of hands and legs. Discs and bones can wear out causing neck pain, back pain ,shooting pain to hands or legs, cervical spondylitis, lumbar canal stenosis affecting the quality of life. Inadvertent injury to these structures can cause sudden severe pain, restriction of movement and associated muscle spasm.

Therefore  maintaining the spine health  is  very important to sustain the functional abilities of the individual. Loss of spine function in any form can disable an individual in many ways therefore the aphorism” SPINE LESS”.  Spine health  demands proper posture , regular exercises , proper diet , calcium supplementation, proper support during sleep. One must avoid smoking, obesity and improper use of the spine.

Dr N K Venkataramana
Founder Chairman & Chief Neurosurgeon
Brains Hospital, Bangalore.

The post Spine health provides stability and flexibility appeared first on Health Vision.

Listed here are a few of the best ways to cut down the risk of Alzheimer’s Dementia.

1. Be physically active: Doing regular physical activity is one of the best ways to reduce your risk of dementia. It’s good for your heart, circulation, weight and mental wellbeing. Walking for 30 minutes daily is a great exercise for elders. Try to avoid sitting down for too long.

2. Eat healthy:A healthy, balanced diet may reduce your risk of alzheimer’s, dementia, as well as other conditions including cancer, type 2 diabetes, obesity, stroke and heart disease. Read about Anti-inflammatory diet. Eat a balance diet. Avoid 5 white “poisons – Maida, White rice, Sugar, Salt, Milk.

3. Don’t smoke: If you smoke, you’re putting yourself at much higher risk of developing dementia. You’re also increasing your risk of other conditions, including type 2 diabetes, stroke, and lung cancer.

4. Drink less: Drinking too much alcohol increases your risk of developing dementia. At most, you should aim to drink no more than once a week. If you regularly drink much more than this, you’re at risk of alcohol-related brain shrinkage.

5. Exercise your mind (Use it or lose it): Keeping your mind active is likely to reduce your risk of alzheimer’s. Regularly challenging yourself mentally seems to build up the brain’s ability to cope with disease. One way to think about it is ‘Use it or lose it’.

Find something you like doing that challenges your brain and do it regularly. It’s important to find something that you’ll keep up. For example:

• Learn music or musical instrument
• Learn a new language
• Play puzzles, crosswords or quizzes
• Play card games or board games
• Read challenging books or write (fiction or non-fiction).

Talking and communicating with other people may also help to reduce your risk of dementia. Make an effort to keep in touch with the people who are important to you, such as friends and family. Volunteering or joining a club or community group are also good ways to stay socially active.

Dr. Joshy E.V
Senior  Neurologist, Brains Neuro Spine Hospital
8, Ideal Homes HBCS Layout, RR Nagar,
Bengaluru- 560098.
Ph:+91 9148080000

The post Do you know the best ways to cut down the risk of Alzheimer’s Dementia? appeared first on Health Vision.

Brain is the crown jewel of a human body responsible for internal demands and external responses, special interactions, environmental adaptations and spiritual connectivity. Human brain has evolved over millions of years as the most sophisticated, intricately engineered machine with the capability of performing multiple task parallelly as well as sequentially.

Brain has two big hemispheres – right and left cerebral, two small hemispheres called right and left cerebellum (big and small brain). All the areas of the brain are interconnected through the white matter located deep inside the brain contributing to major substance. This in turn directly communicates to body through the spinal cord eventually transmitting the electrical signals to each and every specific parts of the body. At the same time all the sensory organs like eye, ear, tongue, nose and the skin will be transmitting information including the feedback to the brain about the light, sound, smell and other sensations continuously. Brain in turn processes the entire information, takes cues from the past experience and memory to interpret and act.

Brain has 100 billion neurons which are connected through millions of cables through the spinal cord. These neurons have the ability to establish innumerable connectivity with other neurons to the tune of 300 trillion synapses. Brain is protected by skull bones and tough membrane called dura. Brain is the powerhouse of the body that generates electricity throughout the day and night.

Brain has distinct area that serves distinct functions. However, both right and left brain and different areas of brain work in tandem and perfect co-ordination to make every action perfect. Due to its high metabolic activity, the brain demands highest amount of blood supply for skull from the heart.

1. Nervous System is the first to develop in the embryo. By the time the pregnancy is detected the neural tube is already formed so the brain development is quite complex therefore any alterations can lead to serious birth defects both in the brain as well as in the spinal cord therefore the expectant mothers should take folic acid much before they plan for the pregnancy.

2. Brain continues to work both at day and at night. The electrical activity can be recorded by electroencephalogram (EEG). The electrical activity can vary depending upon the activity of the brain. Any abnormal electrical discharges can create a spark with a high voltage leading to convulsions. Epilepsy or fits is nothing but an abnormal electrical discharge from the brain.

3. Brain requires highest amount of blood supply to meet the demand. Blood vessels of the brain are arranged in a circular fashion like one of the best water circulatory system. Inspite of this arrangement if there is a reduction in blood supply this can lead to brain attack (stroke). Similarly, a rupture or damage to the blood vessel can cause brain haemorrhage.

4. Brain tumor is the growth that happens from any structure inside the brain. Any such additional component can occupy the space meant for the brain and cause suppression as well as increased pressure inside the head. This can lead to headache associated with vomiting. All headaches do not mean a tumor. Headache can be caused by many other conditions.

5. Brain utilizes only glucose for its nutrition. Reduction in glucose can make the brain hungry leading to irritability, lack of concentration, convulsions and unresponsiveness if not corrected.

6. Sleep is an important function of the brain. Every one requires 6-7 hours of sleep to maintain proper health. During the sleep brain eliminates all the toxins and restores all the chemical substances that are needed for the normal function of the brain during the day. Sleep are of two types – REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and NREM (Non-rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Every cycle of NREM sleep will be followed by a short period of REM sleep. The maximum amount of REM sleep will be in the early hours of morning and during this sleep one experiences vivid dream.

7. Throughout life we learn through the sensory experience are stored in the brain in different locations and finally as a permanent memory in the hippocampus. In day-to-day life the memory is used from different sources to respond to the events of life. The memory can be immediate, remote, long-term, rote memory and genetic memory. The disturbance of this memory system can lead to various kinds of memory loss.

8. Brain grows throughout the fetal life and reaches its peak in the first two years of life wherein the number of neurons will get interconnected and the white matter will get a coating called myelination. These coating helps in maintaining the speed of conduction and prevents cross talking within the brain area. As the myelination progresses child attains the physical as well as mental milestone.

9. On the contrary when a person ages the number of brain cells gradually disintegrate making the brain smaller (atrophy). This natural process can start quite early in life at a higher magnitude called cerebral degeneration wherein the programmed cell death will rapidly disturb the brain connectivity leading to all degenerative conditions like dementia and alzheimer’s.

10. Healthy brain requires proper diet, exercise, physical activity and sleep. Brain is highly sensitive and prone to damage and hence it is mandatory to avoid all the toxins that can impair the brain function like smoking, excessive alcohol, sedentary life, substance abuse or physical abuse. Brain and the gut are interconnected and the diet can influence the brain growth, brain activity as well as the personality. Nutrition plays a significant role right from pregnancy time all the way upto the end of life. Maternal nutrition, later on breast milk during infancy and appropriate nutrition will keep the brain healthy.

The capacity of brain is enormous, one can use only 7-10 % effectively in the entire lifetime. Brain is like a timer, the more the use the more it shines. Continuous usage will continue to keep the nervous system active and also sustains the connectivity within, keeping the efficiency despite ageing. One must nourish the abilities of the brain and put effort to avoid damage by all means.

Dr.NK Venkataramana
Founder Chairman & Chief Neurosurgeon,
Brains Neuro Spine Hospital, 8, Ideal Homes HBCS Layout, RR Nagar, Bengaluru- 560098.
Ph:+91 9148080000

The post How can you keep your brain healthy? appeared first on Health Vision.