Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
| Domain | Definition |
Health | Paralysis of the upper and lower muscles of the face on one side, due to inflammation of the facial nerve within the stylomastoid foramen. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In most cases the cause is unknown and is supposed to be associated with the inflammation of the facial nerve, which is believed to injure the nerve by applying pressure on it within the bone canal that the nerve passes through. In the remaining cases, a wide variety of pathological conditions may result in facial palsy including tumor, meningitis, stroke, diabetes mellitus, head trauma and inflammatory diseases of the cranial nerves (sarcoidosis, brucellosis etc). However, in these conditions, the neurologic findings are rarely restricted to the facial nerve and usually involve the neighbouring structures, as well. One interesting disease difficult to exclude in the differential diagnosis is herpes zoster virus infection of the facial nerve. Although the major difference of this disease is vesicular skin changes in the external ear canal, this finding may occasionally be lacking.
A patient with facial palsy is expected to present with sole motor symptoms. Detection of sensory loss, hearing loss or ataxia during medical examination excludes the diagnosis of Bell's palsy and requires further examination for diagnosis.
The treatment is a matter of controversy. In a case presenting with incomplete facial palsy, the treatment is usually unnecessary. However, patients presenting with complete paralysis (unable to close one side of his/her eyes and corner of mouth) are usually treated with corticosteroids, efficacy of which has never been tested reliably. Most of the patients (60-80%) recover completely within few weeks (sometimes within 3 months) and the rest may recover with permanent deficits in varying degrees. Surgical procedures to decompress the facial nerve have not been proven reliably beneficial.
Major expected complications are chronic loss of taste, chronic facial spasm and corneal infections. Therefore, the eyes should be protected by covers, and eye drops or eye ointments may be recommended especially for cases with complete paralysis.
One well-known patient of Bell's palsy is Canada's 20th Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Bell's palsy."
| Domain | Title |
References | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from damage to the 7th (facial) cranial nerve. (references) | |
Researchers in Japan identified the common cold sore virus, herpes simplex, as the likely cause of most cases of Bell's palsy. (references) | ||
The prognosis for Bell's palsy is generally very good. With or without treatment, most patients begin to get significantly better within 2 weeks, and about 80 percent recover completely within 3 months. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Language | Translations for "BELL'S PALSY"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||
Danish | Bell's paralyse (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), prosoplegi (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Dutch | verlamming van Bell (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), spasmus van Bell (Bell paralysis, Bell spasm, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), spasmus facialis (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), paralyse van Bell (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
French | prosopoplégie (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis), paralysie du nerf facial (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis), paralysie de Bell (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
German | Bell Syndrom (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), Bell Paralyse (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), Bell Laehmung (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), rheumatische periphere Fazialislaehmung (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), Prosopoplegie (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), idiopathische Fazialisparese (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Greek | προσωποπληγία (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), παράλυσις του προσωπικού νεύρου (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), παράλυσις του Bell (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Italian | prosoplegia (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), paralisi di Bell (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), paralisi del nervo facciale (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ell'sbay alsypay paralisia facial (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), paralisia de Bell (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis). (various references) prosopoplejía (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis), parálisis facial (Bell paralysis, Bell's paralysis, facial paralysis). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "'-a-b-e-l-l-l-p-s-s-y" | |
-2 letters: syllables. | |
-3 letters: playless, syllable. | |
-4 letters: psyllas. | |
-5 letters: alleys, allyls, ballsy, basely, bassly, belays, blypes, bypass, labels, lapels, lapses, leally, lyases, palely, passel, psylla, sables, saleps, sepals, slypes, spales, spalls, spells, splays. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)42 45 4C 4C 27 53 50 41 4C 53 59 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000010 01000101 01001100 01001100 00100111 01010011 00100000 01010000 01000001 01001100 01010011 01011001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)B E L L ' S   P A L S Y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0042 0045 004C 004C 0027 0053 0050 0041 004C 0053 0059 |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)3639464695325035465359 |
| 1. Usage: Commercial 2. Quotations: Non-fiction 3. Translations: Modern 4. Anagrams | 5. Orthography 6. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
