Dr Jamal has many years of experience in diagnosing, treating, and managing patients with neurological disorders while Dr Julu specialises in the investigation of the autonomic nervous system.

Neurological disorders are ailments that affect the central nervous system (brain and

spinal cord), the peripheral nervous system and muscles, or the autonomic nervous system.

The field of neurology overlaps with various other specialties. For example, nervous system infectious diseases are usually treated by infectious disease specialists but a patient may benefit from a neurological assessment in diseases involving the immune system to aid in recovery.

All investigations and tests are done with state of the art equipment. Two well-known specialists in the field of neurosciences are practising in Breakspear's Neuroscience Services. Dr Goran Jamal has a special interest in the long-term effects of organophosphates, pesticides and other environmental toxins on people exposed to these chemicals at work, accidentally, and in their homes.

Dr Peter Julu is a leading expert in the brainstem abnormalities in Rett syndrome - a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that can often be misdiagnosed and mistaken for autism.

Both doctors have been involved in clinical research and clinical trials.

Breakspear Hospital’s new Neuroscience Services can provide assessments for many neurological conditions such as:

• Headache, including migraine, cluster headache and tension headache
• Epilepsy and seizure disorders, which require EEG and possibly autonomic assessment in certain cases
• Autonomic function assessment in various neurological conditions which are widely known to affect the autonomic nervous system, like multiple system atrophy and Parkinson’s disease
• Traumatic neurological lesions like spinal injuries, head injuries and post-traumatic symptoms and conditions
• Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and motor neuron disease
• Cerebrovascular disease, such as stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA)
  Sleep disorders and sleep apnoea syndrome
• Disturbances of sexual function
• Toxic neuropathies, including neuropathies induced by exposure to organophosphates and other pesticides as well as other environmental toxins such as lead, mercury, cadmium, zinc and tin
• Disorders of peripheral nerves, muscles (myopathy, muscular dystrophies) and neuromuscular junction diseases
• Inflammatory conditions of muscles (myositis)
• Traumatic injuries of the peripheral nerves
• Entrapment neuropathies such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tarsal tunnel syndrome, ulnar nerve trapping, cervical nerve root or lumbosacral nerve root trapping.
• Altered mental status and encephalopathy
• Speech and language disorders
• Inflammatory conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Infectious diseases such as Lyme disease
  

For more information about the doctors leading this new department, see Our Team or the Breakspear Medical Bulletin, Issue 13, page 8.

For more information on Dr Peter Julu's work, research and developments, visit the Imperial College, London website or medifitgroup.com