What are the symptoms of white matter on the brain?

How do you know if you have white matter disease?

Advances in medical imaging have made white matter disease easier to spot. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test, which takes pictures of the inside of your brain, can show any damage. Changes to white matter will show up super-bright white (your doctor may call this "hyperintense") on an MRI scan.

At what age does white matter disease start?

By age 60, this degeneration, termed white matter disease, is present in more than half of the population.

What does it mean when white matter is found in the brain?

White matter is found in the deeper tissues of the brain (subcortical). It contains nerve fibers (axons), which are extensions of nerve cells (neurons). Many of these nerve fibers are surrounded by a type of sheath or covering called myelin. Myelin gives the white matter its color.

Is white matter disease curable?

Treatments: While there is no known cure for white matter disease, treatments can help to manage the symptoms. Controlling the risk factors associated with heart disease can help decrease the progression of the disease.

Severity of White Matter Hyperintensities

What is the life expectancy of someone with white matter disease?

Within 2 years, children can develop gait and posture problems, as well as blindness and paralysis. It is not possible to stop disease progression, and it is typically fatal within 6 months to 4 years of symptom onset.

Does white matter disease cause headaches?

Patients with extensive white matter hyperintensities are likely to have tension-type headaches or to have headaches develop during middle age, according to results published in Cephalagia. Currently, there are no established treatments or strategies for managing white matter hyperintensities.

How do you treat white matter in the brain?

White matter disease doesn't have a cure, but there are treatments that can help manage your symptoms. The primary treatment is physical therapy. Physical therapy can help with any balance and walking difficulties you may develop.

What does white matter on brain MRI mean?

White matter disease is commonly detected on brain MRI of aging individuals as white matter hyperintensities (WMH), or 'leukoaraiosis.” Over the years it has become increasingly clear that the presence and extent of WMH is a radiographic marker of small cerebral vessel disease and an important predictor of the life- ...

Who treats white matter disease?

A neuroradiologist is a doctor who is certified in general radiology and has also undergone specialty training, often with an added board certification in imaging of the brain, spine, and nerves. With this training, they're able to recognize both common and uncommon disorders that affect the nervous system.

Is white matter on the brain serious?

While white matter disease has been associated with strokes, cognitive loss, and dementia, it also has some physical and emotional symptoms such as balance problems, falls, depression, and difficulty multitasking (e.g., walking and talking.)

Can white matter in the brain be repaired?

White matter injuries are very serious, but, depending on the type and extent of the injury, extensive recovery may occur. As long as the neuron cell bodies remain healthy, axons can regrow and slowly repair themselves.

Can white matter cause seizures?

Given that multiple cortical and subcortical regions are involved in seizure networks, it follows that the structures connecting these regions, within the white matter, could also be involved. More recent neuroimaging studies definitively confirm involvement of white matter in patients with epilepsy.

Does white matter disease cause memory loss?

Unlike Alzheimer's disease which shrinks the hippocampus causing progressive memory loss, white matter disease is a more diffuse mind-robbing condition that targets small blood vessels deep within the brain's white matter.

Can white matter lesions in the brain be nothing?

Studies have found that white matter lesions appear in some degree on brain scans of most older adults but less often in younger people. White matter lesions are among the most common incidental findings—which means the lesions have no clinical significance—on brain scans of people of any age.

What happens if you don't have enough white matter in your brain?

The deficits range from language ability to delayed memory, and visuo-spatial construction. White matter disease exacts a heavier toll than first thought, causing real cognitive damage. It's no surprise that the disease also contributes to vascular dementia or even Alzheimer's.

What is early onset dementia symptoms?

Does dementia always show up on a brain scan?

Brain scans do not always show abnormalities in people diagnosed with dementia, as sometimes there are no visible changes in the brain. Sometimes, brain scans can be used to determine the type of dementia.

Can stress cause white matter lesions?

Increased exposures to stressful events are associated with a corresponding increase in the progression of white matter hyperintensities.

How do you keep white matter healthy?

White matter, on the other hand, responds mainly to a steady diet of healthy fats, because brain matter is made up of fats. If you are out for dinner, dump dark green olive oil all over your meal. Or go for other sources of wonderful fats: cold water fish, organic nut butters, coconut and avocados.

Can white matter disease be caused by trauma?

“White matter damage is definitely prevalent,” Stevens explains. “Virtually all brain trauma patients have it in some form.” They don't need to suffer severe trauma—people can experience it after a concussion, a fleeting loss of consciousness, he says.

Can white matter cause dizziness?

We postulate that white matter lesions may induce dizziness either because patients perceive a degree of objective unsteadiness or by a cortical–subcortical disconnection syndrome, secondary to disruption of white matter tracts involved in gait and balance control [16], [17].

Can white matter lesions cause migraines?

A review of studies found that people who got migraines were more likely to have white matter and infarct-like lesions than those who didn't. Those who got migraines with aura, or visual symptoms like blind spots, changes in vision, or flashes of light, had the biggest risk.

Does everyone have white matter in the brain?

See other articles in PMC that cite the published article. “Gray matter” is only one of two types of brain tissue; the other “white matter” is rarely mentioned. Yet white matter makes up half the human brain and has not been thought to be important in cognition or learning outside the context of pathology.

Is white matter disease the same as small vessel disease?

Now, perhaps the best technical term for what I'm referring to is “cerebral small vessel disease.” But many other synonyms are used by the medical community — especially in radiology reports. They include: Small vessel ischemic disease. White matter disease.