Lesions on the brain

The brain tissue can be damaged due to many illnesses, injuries and toxic chemicals. In some cases the actual cause of brain lesions simply cannot be identified. The previously mentioned illnesses may cause a certain degree of damage to the brain tissue. There are many types of brain lesions but they all have one common characteristic. They cause temporary or permanent loss of certain brain functions. Some of brain lesions are small and do not threaten the patients while other can affect large areas of the brain and eventually cause lethal outcome.

Symptoms Related to Brain Lesions

There is a variety of symptoms and sings associated with brain lesions. They generally depend on the size of the brain lesion and its locations. Even the type of lesion determines the symptoms that occur.

The most common symptoms in majority of brain lesions include headaches, nausea, vomiting, neck pain/ stiffness, visual disturbances, seizures, changes in mood, personality changes, behavior changes, mental changes, problems with concentration, difficulty moving and maintaining balance etc.

Different Types of Brain Lesions

Abscesses are localized brain lesions. An abscess is actually a collection of puss and inflamed brain tissues. They do not occur often but are rather serious. An abscess is a consequence of an infection of nearby organs such as the ear, sinuses or teeth. They may also occur due to skull injury or after brain surgery.

Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia feature with generalized brain lesions. The basic characteristic of these lesions is that brain cells within the lesion die and completely lose their function. Gradually more areas of the brain are affected and the loss of brain functions is even more severe.

Arteriovenous malformation is a type of brain lesion that does not affect the very brain. It affects brain's blood vessels. In this case there is a connection between certain brain arteries and veins. These lesions are very fragile and may cause serious and potentially life-threatening intracranial bleeding.

In cerebral infarction the affected area of the brain is complete damaged. This type of lesion consists of clusters of dead brain cells.

In cerebral palsy brain lesion may affect different parts of the brain and may vary in size. They commonly develop before the birth and may continue forming until the age of 3. Depending on the size and location of these lesions a child develops different neurological problems.

In multiple sclerosis brain lesions (plaques) are in a form of patches of inflammation. The affected nerves lose myelin. These patches are randomly distributed and interrupt communication between the central nervous system and the rest of the body.

And finally, brain tumors are very common brain lesions. They originate from normal brain tissue and once they start growing rapidly cause compression, infiltration and damage of the nearby brain tissue.