- According to the World Health Organization, headache affects 15% of the world population, today it is considered the eighth most disabling disease of humanity in capacity days per years lived.
- 40% of people who suffer from it suffer pain more than once a month which lasts more than 24 hours.
This symptom affects women more than men, presenting with greater prevalence in the most productive stage of life, that is, between the ages of 24 and 55, so that its annual cost, for example, in the United States, is About $17 billion in lost work days and reduced productivity when working with migraine or mild headache. However, on some occasions, such as when the headache occurs due to ruptured brain aneurysms (with an incidence of 10 to 15 per 100,000 person-years), the best option to improve survival and sequelae is surgical management. (vascular and endovascular neurosurgery).
Currently, it can be affirmed that 90% of the population has registered feeling back pain in the course of their lives, says Dr. Carlos Llanos Lucero from the neurosurgery and spine, spinal cord and peripheral nerve surgery group of the Medical Center. Fortunately, most back pain in the healthy population is caused by osteoarticular degeneration and only changes in lifestyle, sedentary lifestyle, diet and improving muscle conditioning are suggested. In some cases, lesions can be generated by a herniated intervertebral disc, which leads to loss of function of the spinal cord or a nerve root, affecting walking, sphincter control or sexual life, says the specialist.
These diseases, both common, present in more than 90% of the world population, assures the WHO, become the symptoms most expressed by patients who visit the emergency services of medical centers, clinics and hospitals in the city, which They are treated by specialized groups of neurosurgeons, who intervene in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as hemorrhages and bruises (strokes, cerebral infarcts (thrombosis), spinal cord and vertebral trauma, abnormal movements (Parkinson’s and epilepsy), brain tumors and spinal conditions, among many others.
It is important to think about parents who receive their baby with a spinal cord malformation called spina bifida, or with congenital hydrocephalus (treated by pediatric neurosurgery) considered congenital disorders or congenital malformations, these are the second leading cause of death in children under 28 days and under 5 years of age in the Americas, together with prematurity, asphyxia and sepsis, account for more than 44% of deaths in children, according to PAHO. Worldwide, they affect 1 in 33 babies and cause 3.2 million disabilities a year.
Think of a healthy person who suffers an accident and presents skull or spine fractures, or intracerebral traumatic injuries due to bruising or inflammation (emergency neurosurgery and trauma); also think about someone who is at the peak of his productive life and receives the news of an interveneable lesion for his control that is progressively affecting brain function due to a tumor in his skull (oncological neurosurgery for adults and children); Think of the families who have their loved one with epilepsy and who, even using drugs, do not stop presenting epileptic seizures (epilepsy neurosurgery). Also, those people who, due to excessive movements or the absence of spontaneous movements, such as Parkinson’s disease, see their lives affected despite the proper use of medications available on the market; people who suffer from intractable pain that analgesics do not lead to relief (functional neurosurgery and neurostimulation), not to mention the obstruction of a cerebral artery, that is, a thrombosis, where removing the clot can prevent loss of brain function due to heart attack while the cause is controlled (endovascular neurosurgery and stroke unit).
Affirms Dr. Alejandro Herrera, a neurosurgeon at the Medical Center, that if you think once again, they are not always the last option. It is the only option, or perhaps the best one, to avoid succumbing to the nature of some nervous system diseases or their devastating effects.
The neurosurgery group Medical Center share several symptoms that may be the cause of a disease that requires the attention of a neurosurgeon:
- Pain: Sudden or chronic pain in the head, neck, or back may indicate a problem with the skull, brain, or spine.
- Vision loss: when it occurs suddenly or gradually, it can be related to local or compressive damage to the optic nerve or fibers of the visual pathway. This symptom can be evaluated in conjunction with an ophthalmologist to identify any attributable cause.
- Epileptic seizures (sometimes called convulsions): Seizures are caused by some factor that irritates the brain and it is important to be evaluated by a multidisciplinary group in which, if there is intractability, there is the possibility of considering surgical interventions.
- Weakness: when the face, arms and/or legs weaken, it may be indicative of the compression of a nerve that transmits movement information to the affected muscle.
- Memory loss: It is one of the main complaints, and that among other causes is generated by dementia. It may be related to cerebral circulation problems or be due to hydrocephalus in adults, which are some of the causes that can be intervened by neurosurgery.
- Numbness: As well as pain, numbness in any part of the body may be related to damage to a nerve that transmits sensation information.
- Hits: accidents that involve direct blows to the head and spine can alter the anatomy of the region, compromising the function of the brain, spinal cord, and/or nerves that exit from it; as well as the membranes and bones that cover them (skull and vertebrae).
- Language: When there is difficulty speaking, the region that sends information to the muscles that are in charge of articulating language may be compromised.
For more information
Angelica Booksellers
Cell phone 3164313281
press officer
Medical Center