Neuropsychiatric manifestations of some tropical diseases

Abstract

Some tropical diseases are the direct cause of severe disturbances of cerebral function while others affect only finer cerebral systems controlling fears, anxiety and personality traits. The mechanisms by which psychiatric symptoms are produced in tropical disorders are not any different from the mechanisms that relate to any physical disorders. Neuropsychiatric symptoms may be caused by a number of different mechanisms including bacterial toxins, release of cytokines, hyperthermia, shock (poor perfusion), acute renal insufficiency, pulmonary failure (shock lung), coagulopathy, disruption of the blood-brain barrier, and/or the nest of pathogens into the central nervous system. The following tropical illnesses can be associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms: neurocysticercosis, malaria, trypanosomiasis, dengue, and schistosomiasis. Neurological and psychiatric impairments induced by tropical diseases both represent a major category of invalidating disorders, which cause profound changes in the nervous system functions, often associated with severe sequels or late-onset disturbances. It is therefore important to disseminate knowledge of the neuropsychiatric symptoms accompanying tropical diseases in order to increase the awareness of these problems and challenges.