What is demyelination of the white matter? Uncovering the cause

Many diseases can occur in the white matter of the brain, and demyelination is a reaction of the white matter to external diseases. The most common is infection of the nervous system and the manifestation of poisoning. It should be diagnosed and treated in time to avoid worsening of the disease.

1 Causes

Many diseases can occur in the white matter of the brain. The typical response of white matter to various harmful stimuli is demyelinating changes, which can be a secondary manifestation of neurological diseases such as infection, poisoning, degeneration, trauma, infarction, etc. There is a group of demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system whose causes are still unclear. Therefore, the current classification of this group of diseases can be divided into two major categories according to whether the myelin sheath is mature at the time of onset: ① Demyelinating diseases with normal myelin sheath development, such as multiple sclerosis, progressive multifocal leukodystrophy, acute sporadic encephalomyelitis, etc.; ② Malmyelination diseases such as globoid cell-like leukodystrophy, metachromatic leukodystrophy, spongiform encephalopathy, etc.

2 Diagnosis

Demyelination of white matter

Olekmj classifies demyelinating diseases into the following categories: Autoimmune, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis, multiple sclerosis, infectious, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, toxic/metabolic, carbon monoxide poisoning, vitamin B12 deficiency, mercury poisoning (Minamata disease), alcohol/tobacco poisoning, amblyopia, central pontine myelinolysis, Marchia Fava-Bignami syndrome, hypoxia, radiation, vascular, Binswanger disease, hereditary diseases of myelin metabolism, adrenoleukodystrophy, metachromatic leukodystrophy, Krabbe disease, Alexander disease, Canavan-van Bogaert-Bertrand disease, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, phenylketonuria. The most common clinical disease is multiple sclerosis.

Here we mainly talk about the main symptoms and signs of multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system caused by an autoimmune disorder. The disease usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 40, but rarely occurs in those under 10 or over 50. The onset can be acute or slow, and manifests as: (1) Psychiatric symptoms: such as irritability, excessive crying, excessive laughing, memory loss, etc.; (2) Articulation disorders or inconsistent speech; (3) Visual impairment; (4) Decreased or abnormal sensations; (5) Difficulty in limb movement or paralysis; (6) Urinary disorders, impotence, etc. This disease is fluctuating, that is, the symptoms may be relieved on their own or after treatment after an attack, but may recur after a period of time. However, each relapse may leave a certain degree of functional impairment, and the general trend is that the condition gradually worsens. The prognosis of this disease is generally not very bad, with an average survival period of 25-30 years after onset. [1]