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The Human Central Nervous System

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Introduction:
The central nervous system (CNS) is the system within the body that is under scrutiny during this case. The CNS is split into two sections, the brain and spinal cord and these two separate sections are made up of white and gray matter (Silverthorn, 2013). White matter is made up of myelinated axons, allowing for fast transmission of nerve signals, while grey matter is unmyelinated nerve bodies (Silverthorn, 2007).
The specific part of the CNS that is of interest is the brain. The brain is arguably the most important part of the CNS, more important than the heart to the viability of the body. The importance to the body can be illustrated by the amount of blood that flows to the brain – 20% - compared to the weight of the organ – 2% body weight (source 4). The body has evolved to allocate resources to those areas that are important to the survival of the organism, the brain in the CNS being the most important of all.
Encephalitis is a term for diseases in which the brain swells, but which can also mean a swelling or reaction by any part of the CNS (Baker and Larsen, 1944). Many things could and do cause encephalitis from bacterial, viral or fungal infections to trauma induced to the brain which may be hard to diagnose and differentiate from (Khetsuriani et al, 2006). Fatal cases of encephalitis are found to be classified as an acute viral encephalitis in two thirds of cases (Johnson, 1996). Incidence of acute encephalitis has been reported in between

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