One thing about neurologist that you have to be aware of is the fact that he is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing as well as treating disorders of the nervous system. Speaking of nervous system, this is a term that best describes a portion of the body that includes the spinal cord, peripheral nerves as well as the brain, and involves a plethora of conditions which affects anything, from cognitive skills to motor functioning. If you are wondering how neurologists treat their patients, well, that will start once the patient is referred to them by another doctor, either by a internal medicine physician or a general practitioner. If the patient has been referred to them by another doctor, neurologists will proceed on doing the first step which is to take a complete medical history of the patient, and perform an evaluation of his nervous system. The evaluation they perform includes testing the following: cognitive function, cranial nerves, motor skills, sensory capabilities, gait, coordination, and also, the patient’s reflexes. As for the medical history, neurologists will perform them as a way of knowing if his or her family has any history of neurological conditions or diseases.
The next thing that we want you to know regarding neurologist is the fact that they are treating various kinds of medical conditions. When it comes to the conditions being treated by neurologists, they range from the more serious ones like seizures, epilepsy, head trauma, strokes, neuromuscular disorders, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis, to the common ones like infections, sleep disorders, and also, headaches. As for the treatment that they provide, they actually vary depending on the medical condition they are treating. Most of the time, they will refer their patients to different specialists for treatment, prescribe them with medications, or they recommend as well as assist with a surgical procedure. If it happens that the medical condition of the patient greatly affects his or her motor skills, coordination as well as reflexes, neurologists will refer him or her to a physical therapist.
Other than the things we mentioned above, there are still more that you need to know regarding neurologists like how they are asked to evaluated patients who are unresponsive and are on life support. In this matter, the neurologist will proceed on examining the patient, determine whether his or her brain has ceased functioning.
The job of neurologists is very hard as they have to deal with the most sensitive parts of the body. This is the very reason why proper education and intensive training is a must as these will teach them the ways to appropriately and adequately handle these regions of the bod in the most subtle way possible.