White matter lesions (WMLs) are areas of abnormal myelination in the brain. These lesions are best visualized as
White spots on a brain MRI are not always a reason to worry. There are many possible causes, including vitamin deficiencies, infections, migraines, and strokes. Other risk factors for white spots include getting older, race/ethnicity, genetics, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.
DIFFERENTIAL RADIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF WHITE MATTER LESIONS. White matter T2 hyperintensities in the brain are not specific to MS and are seen in a number of other disorders. They can even be seen in otherwise normal individuals, particularly with increasing age.
Cerebral white matter lesions (WML) are common in the aging brain and are associated with dementia and depression. They are associated with vascular risk factors and small vessel disease, suggesting an ischemic origin, but recent pathology studies suggest a more complex pathogenesis.
White matter hyperintensities (WMH): These lesions appear bright white on certain sequences of MRI scans. These abnormalities can also be seen in elderly people and patients with stroke and dementia. In migraineurs, they're typically found in the frontal lobe, limbic system, and parietal lobe of the brain.
Studies show that having migraines can make you more likely to get brain lesions. These painful headaches are linked to two main types of lesions: White matter lesions. White matter is tissue deep in the brain.
Conclusions: Non-clinical individuals with high anxiety already have white matter alterations in the thalamus-cortical circuit and some emotion-related areas that were widely reported in anxiety-related disorders. The altered white matter may be a vulnerability marker in individuals at high risk of clinical anxiety.
Several lines of evidence have reported white matter dysfunction in psychiatric conditions, including depression, stress- and anxiety-related disorders.
White matter lesions (WMLs) are areas of abnormal myelination in the brain. These lesions are best visualized as hyperintensities on T2 weighted and FLAIR (Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) sequences of magnetic resonance imaging. They are considered a marker of small vessel disease.
An MRI scan can detect MS activity early on , sometimes before an individual experiences any worsening symptoms.
Other conditions commonly misdiagnosed as MS are fibromyalgia, nonspecific white matter lesions, psychiatric disorders and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD). White matter lesions due to vasculitis also should not be disregarded (Solomon et al., 2016).
In general, the prognosis is grave, with the majority of patients dying after a few years. However, some die only after several months, and some manage to survive for several decades [6].
White matter disease is strongly linked to cardiovascular disease risk factors, and researchers believe that white matter disease is a biomarker (medical sign) of the lifelong risk of stroke, dementia and disability.
Possible Causes
Brain tumors (including cancer). Congenital disorders (conditions you have at birth) and metabolic disorders. Degenerative brain diseases (especially age-related ones), such as Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, Multiple system atrophy, and Parkinson's disease.
Brain lesions are areas of abnormal tissue that have been damaged due to injury or disease, which can range from being relatively harmless to life-threatening. Clinicians typically identify them as unusual dark or light spots on CT or MRI scans which are different from ordinary brain tissue.
Increased numbers and size of the intense-white spots seen on the mostly gray images of the brain have long been linked to memory loss and emotional problems, especially as people age.
Hypertension may cause disturbances in the blood-brain barrier, which may cause lesions in the white matter by cerebral oedema, by activation of astrocytes or by destructive enzymes or other poisons which pass through the damaged vessel walls.
Vitiligo is caused by the lack of a pigment called melanin in the skin. Melanin is produced by skin cells called melanocytes, and it gives your skin its colour. In vitiligo, there are not enough working melanocytes to produce enough melanin in your skin. This causes white patches to develop on your skin or hair.
Eczema, hives, psoriasis, rosacea, picking at the skin and more conditions can all be caused by an increase in stress levels and anxiety. The same goes for alopecia (hair loss), vitiligo (depigmented white spots on the skin) and trichotillomania (hair pulling).
White matter dynamically changes in response to learning, stress, and social experiences. Several lines of evidence have reported white matter dysfunction in psychiatric conditions, including depression, stress- and anxiety-related disorders.
White matter lesions have been related to affective disorders and a history of late-onset depression in psychiatric patients.
White matter lesions (WML) are a frequent neuroradiological finding in brain MRI with a large number of underlying causes [1]. Two of the most common etiologies are multiple sclerosis (MS) and vascular disorders causing small vessel disease (SVD), each with distinct and characteristic features [2, 3].
Depression may cause a combination of: lesions. shrinking gray matter. poor communication to the rest of the brain.
Results: Individuals with tension-type headache were more likely to have extensive white matter hyperintensities than headache-free subjects, with this being the case across all methods of white matter hyperintensities assessment (Scheltens scale: Odds ratio, 2.46; 95% CI, 1.44-4.20).