Neurologist
A physician who specializes in treating diseases and disorders associated with the nervous system that includes spinal cord, brain, associated nerves and muscles. To be a neurologist, one should have completed four years of graduation, four years of medical school, one year of internship in internal medicine/surgery and three years of neurology residency. They can further hold a sub-specialization in stroke, epilepsy etc. They should also be certified by a recognized board.
A neurologist conducts
Neurological assessment of the nerves related with the neck and head.
Checks on movement of the muscles and the strength of the same.
Checks on ambulation, balance and reflexes.
Checks for sensation, speech, language, memory, and various other cognitive skills.
They ask for diagnostic tests in few patients such as CAT scan, MRI, EEG, EMG/NCV and lumbar puncture and analyze those results in relation to the disorder of the patient.
Modern techniques and neurologist
Neurologists have been able to understand the problems in patients better with the modern and innovative techniques available.
With latest CAT scans understanding the diseases have become a lot easier.
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)/MRA (magnetic resonance angiography) gives a better understanding of the structures.
NCV (nerve conduction velocity) give a better understanding of the nerves.
Neuro Ophthalmologist
All vision problems need not necessarily stem from the eye. Some vision problems involve the brain. Neuro ophthalmology is the sub specialty of both neurology and ophthalmology. A neuro ophthalmologist is a phycian who specializes in the diseases affecting vision that originates from the nervous system. Conditions such as optic nerve disorders, loss of vision from central nervous system disease, double vision diplopia and involuntary movement of the eyes nystagmus are some of the disorders under the purview of a neuro ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologsit attends to patients with disease or injury in the eye ball, cornea and the lens or into the eyeball at the retina inside the eye. If any problem occurs behind the eye in the optic nerve or in some distinct visual pathways connecting the brain, it requires the special skills of a neuro ophthalmologist.
A neuro ophthalmologist could be an ophthalmologist or a neurologist with additional special training. After completing a residency program in any one of the two specialty areas, they take a fellowship in neuro ophthalmology for a year or two before starting to practice as a neuro ophthalmologist. A neuro ophthalmologist attends to a full spectrum of neuro opthalmic conditions including evaluation, diagnostic and referral services of rare and complex disorders. A neuro ophthalmologist caters to:
Patients who suddenly lose part of their side vision.
Patients suffering from double vision.
Patients with unequal pupils.
A patient suffering form a stroke.
A patient with brain tumor
Patients who suddenly have their vision out of focus
Any and every patient with unusual vision problems.
In addition to the above, a neuro ophthalmologist provides emergency evaluation of a wide variety of disease that can cause visual loss. Unexplained visual loss can arise out of uncommon disease conditions like myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, mitochondrial disease and other muscular diseases that affect the eye. The neuro ophthalmologist uses special testing techniques including visual fields, visual evoked response, imaging studies such as CT, MRI and angiography and ultrasound to diagnose the disease patterns. It becomes necessary for the neuro ophthalmologist to work closely with other medical specialists to offer multidisciplinary care and solution for complex cases.
Brain MRI
MRI technique is used to examine the brain as it helps to provide clear pictures of the parts of body that are surrounded by bone tissue. Detailed pictures of both benign and malignant abnormal growth of tumors in the brain can be obtained through brain MRI scan. The MRI scan is also indicative whether the tumor is spread to the nearly brain tissue or not. MRI scan can detect the abnormal tissues that grow during multiple sclerosis and the changes occurring during bleeding in the brain or if the brain tissue has suffered a stroke due to lack of oxygen. The functional magnetic resonance imaging is a relatively new procedure. This is used to measure the quick, tiny, metabolic changes that take place in an active part of the brain. The functional magnetic resonance imaging not only helps the radiologist to examine the anatomy of the brain but also to determine the precise part of the brain which is handling the critical aspects of speech, movement and sensation.
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