Purpose Driven Therapy in Stow, Ohio specializes in treatment options for individuals suffering from stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other brain diseases.
Introduction to Brain Disorders
Almost everything we do, say and think is controlled by our brain, so when our brain is injured it has the potential to affect every aspect of life.
Brain disorders are often called the hidden disability because there can be serious problems with our behavior and ability to think, and yet there is often no visible physical change with many brain disorders – so problems can be easily ignored or misunderstood. Even a traumatic brain injury may leave no visible scars to indicate an injury took place.
What is a brain disorder?
A brain disorder is not an intellectual disability. Intelligence is usually not affected, although there are usually cognitive changes such as problems with memory, concentration and attention. It is also not a mental illness, although it can increase the chances of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety.
A brain disorder occurs when there is damage or disruption to the brain after birth, such as:
- Falls, accidents, assault and other trauma
- Stroke and other vascular diseases
- lack of oxygen (e.g. near drowning)
- Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia
- Degenerative diseases (e.g. dementia, Parkinson’s disease)
- Repeated concussions
- Alcohol and other drugs
- Brain tumors
- Epilepsy
- Infections and diseases (e.g. meningitis).
It will often cause a change in personality, sleep patterns, increased fatigue, difficulty communicating (either understanding or speaking, sometimes both), your muscles can either become weak or tighten (called tone). Often the sensory system is involved, it can change your vision, the ability of your eyes to work together, your motor function, or your ability to understand where you are in space and sometimes cause dizziness. You can see these symptoms improve as the brain begins to heal.
Brain Diseases (Neurodegenerative)
Neurodegenerative diseases cause permanent damage, so symptoms tend to get worse as the disease progresses. New symptoms are also likely to develop over time.
There’s no cure for neurodegenerative diseases, but treatment can still help. Treatment for these diseases tries to reduce symptoms and maintain quality of life. Treatment often involves the use of medications to control symptoms.
What’s the long-term outlook?
The outlook for people with brain disorders depends on the type and severity of the brain disorder. Some conditions are easily treated with medication and therapy. Some take a much longer time, all parts of the body need to be addressed because even if your muscles are not affected the organ that is the message center telling them what to do has been, and often affects ability to coordinate or sequence movement. We have found in some cases that exercise is the best medication, it can actually slow down the progression of symptoms.
Other disorders, like neurodegenerative diseases and some traumatic brain injuries, have no cure. People with these conditions often face permanent changes in their behavior, mental abilities, or coordination. In these cases, treatment will try to help you manage your illness and retain as much independence as possible. In fact, modern studies show that with dedication and determination to adapting your remaining functions you can increase your ability to live the life you had before diagnosis for many more years to come!
What role does therapy play?
We help you relearn how to connect those messages, organize them into an effective pattern to perform movement, and work with helping you relearn how to do activities that have become difficult, modifying activities that you cannot do presently so that you can achieve them, and evaluating and changing your environment to keep you safe. The more repetition you have with activity, the better your brain re-learns it, so it is important to have activities built into your day that allow you to practice the movements you need to relearn. We also work with you to relearn how to understand the information your sensory system is giving you and use it to improve your movement.