Spinal Cord Diseases (Print Version)

Your spinal cord is the part of your nervous system that relays messages to and from your brain. It is housed inside your vertebrae, which are the bone disks that make up your spine. Normally, your vertebrae protect your spinal cord. If they don't, you can sustain a spinal cord injury. Besides injuries, the spinal cord can develop

Tumors
Infections such as meningitis and poliomyelitis
Inflammatory diseases
Autoimmune diseases
Degenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy

Symptoms vary but might include pain, numbness, loss of sensation and muscle weakness. These symptoms can occur around the spinal cord, and also in other areas such as your arms and legs. Treatments vary but often include medicines and surgery.

Overviews

Brain and Spinal Tumors(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brainandspinaltumors/brainandspinaltumors.htm

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Diagnosis of Brain, Spinal Cord, and Nerve Disorders: Procedures(Merck & Co., Inc.) - http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch077/ch077d.html
Discography(North American Spine Society) - Links to PDF - http://www.spine.org/Documents/discography_2006.pdf
Electrodiagnostic Testing(American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) - http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00270
Also available in Spanish http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00490
MRI of the Spine(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) - http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=spinemr
Also available in Spanish http://www.radiologyinfo.org/sp/info.cfm?pg=spinemr
Myelogram(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/myelogram/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/myelogramspanish/htm/index.htm

Treatment

Spinal Fusion(North American Spine Society) - Links to PDF - http://www.spine.org/Documents/fusion_2006.pdf

Specific Conditions

Brain and Spinal Tumors: Hope through Research(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brainandspinaltumors/detail_brainandspinaltumors.htm
Brown-Sequard Syndrome(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brown_sequard/brown-sequard.htm
Central Pain Syndrome(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/central_pain/central_pain.htm
Chiari Malformation(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/chiari.htm
Detailed Guide: Brain/CNS (Spinal Cord) Tumors in Adults(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2_3x.asp?rnav=cridg&dt=3
Hydromyelia(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/hydromyelia/hydromyelia.htm
Spinal Tumor(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/spinal-tumor/DS00594/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Tabes Dorsalis(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tabes_dorsalis/tabes_dorsalis.htm
Tarlov Cysts(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tarlov_cysts/tarlov_cysts.htm
Tethered Spinal Cord Syndrome(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tethered_cord/tethered_cord.htm
Transverse Myelitis(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/transversemyelitis/detail_transversemyelitis.htm
Also available in Spanish http://espanol.ninds.nih.gov/trastornos/mielitis_transversa.htm

Related Issues

Dressing with Ease, Style and Comfort(ALS Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.alsa.org/files/cms/Resources/FYI_07_Dressing.pdf
Spinal Infections(North American Spine Society) - Links to PDF - http://www.spine.org/Documents/SpinalInfections2006.pdf

Tutorials

Myelogram(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/myelogram/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/myelogramspanish/htm/index.htm

Anatomy/Physiology

Anatomy of the Spine(National Pain Foundation) - http://www.nationalpainfoundation.org/MyTreatment/articles/BackAndNeck_Part_2.asp
Atlas of the Body: The Nervous System -- Groups of Nerves(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZCLJKBGJC&sub_cat=185

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Spinal Cord Diseases(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Spinal+Cord+Diseases%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Distinct CSF cytokine/chemokine profiles in atopic myelitis and other causes... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18809833&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: A simple performance test for quantifying the severity of cervical... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18757962&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Persistent motor deficits predict long-term bladder dysfunction in children following... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18721934&tool=MedlinePlus
Spinal Cord Diseases -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=spinal+cord+diseases[majr]+NOT+(amyotrophic+lateral+sclerosis[majr]+OR+poliomyelitis[majr]+OR+spinal+cord+injuries[majr]+OR+muscular+atrophy,spinal[mh]+OR+syringomyelia[majr])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans+[mh]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Glossary of Terms(North American Spine Society) - http://www.spine.org/Pages/ConsumerHealth/SpineConditionsAndTreatments/GlossaryTerms/Default.aspx

Directories

Find a Board-Certified Neurosurgeon(American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons) - http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/findaneuro/
Find a Neurologist(American Academy of Neurology) - http://www.thebrainmatters.org/index.cfm?key=1.2.2

Organizations

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://espanol.ninds.nih.gov/
Transverse Myelitis Association - http://www.myelitis.org/

Children

Detailed Guide: Brain/CNS (Spinal Cord) Tumors in Children(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2_3x.asp?rnav=cridg&dt=4

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis.html
Spina Bifida - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spinabifida.html
Spinal Cord Injuries - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spinalcordinjuries.html
Spinal Muscular Atrophy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spinalmuscularatrophy.html
Spinal Stenosis - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spinalstenosis.html
Syringomyelia - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/syringomyelia.html
Brain and Nerves - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/brainandnerves.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Spinal Cord Diseases is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/

Spinal Cord Diseases - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/spinalcorddiseases.html