Research Institute of Neurodevelopment, Neurology and Rehabilitation: science working for the future of Ukraine

The war is taking away Ukrainians' health. According to studies by the World Health Organization, two out of three people report that their health has worsened compared with the pre-war period. Among the most common problems are:

• sleep disturbances (72%),
• headache and migraine (59%),
• symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (54%).

In neurology, the number of diagnoses made has more than tripled compared with 2022. 

What happens to the brain today determines what our tomorrow will be like: this concerns learning, the capacity to work and relationships in the family. Amid war, when the strain on the nervous system sometimes seems unbearable, the study of neurodevelopment, neurology and rehabilitation ceases to be a purely academic matter and becomes a matter of national resilience. 

It is precisely at the intersection of science, clinical practice and the real needs of the population that the Research Institute of Neurodevelopment, Neurology and Rehabilitation works.

Paediatric and adult neurology

Neurological diseases are one of the leading causes of reduced quality of life, disability and loss of the capacity to work in both children and adults. The institute regards neurology as a continuous process — from early childhood to adulthood — paying particular attention to transitional periods. 

They study and systematize data from the following areas: 

Epilepsy and disorders of brain activity — various forms of epilepsy in children and adults, drug-resistant cases, cognitive and behavioural seizures, the impact on a child's development and on the family's quality of life.

Headache and pain syndromes — migraine and its neurobiological mechanisms, tension headache, chronic pain syndromes, as well as the influence of stress and war on the frequency and severity of pain.

Movement disorders — cerebral palsy, dystonias, tremor, tic disorders, impairments of coordination and balance.

Neuromuscular diseases — muscular dystrophies, hereditary and acquired myopathies, neuropathies, needs for rehabilitation and support.

Genetic neurological conditions — hereditary syndromes, genetic causes of epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders, the role of genetic testing in clinical practice.

Neurodegenerative diseases — Parkinson's disease, dementias of various types, early signs of cognitive decline.

The impact of war on neurological health — a separate and increasingly relevant area: the frequency of neurological symptoms in the civilian population, the impact of chronic stress on the nervous system, the combination of neurological and mental disorders, the neurological consequences of injuries and wounds, the availability of care.

The institute regards neurological conditions not only as medical diagnoses but as factors affecting a person's life as a whole — cognitive functions, emotional state, behaviour, social adaptation and the family's role in supporting the patient.

Data and education — the infrastructure for change

A separate area of work of the Research Institute of Neurodevelopment, Neurology and Rehabilitation is analytics: the specialists study the epidemiology of neurological conditions in Ukraine, how the war affects the structure of morbidity and how effective clinical interventions and rehabilitation are, forecast rehabilitation needs and use the collected data to shape treatment policies. 

A no less important area is education and the exchange of knowledge, a bridge between science and practice. The task of the research institute is to find the reasons for what hinders the introduction of modern clinical guidelines and why, and to assess the effectiveness of various formats of training and professional development – (online, offline, simulations); to raise the qualifications of doctors and medical staff and to run pre-hospital first aid courses for all who wish to attend. 

At present the institute is focused on two interconnected areas: providing information services and conducting research into the impact of the war on the population's health. One of the tools that helps with this — NeuroCare Tracker Bot. It already works and is at the same time useful to patients, doctors and researchers. It is an application in Telegram for keeping a structured medical diary.

The bot's capabilities:

🔹 recording of epileptic seizures and other clinically significant events; 🔹 keeping a headache diary with detailed symptoms; 🔹 monitoring of medication intake with reminders; 

🔹 preserving important information about the course of the illness; 

🔹 building a history of observations for the doctor.

Practical benefit for the doctor:

✔ more reliable data during the consultation; 

✔ objective measurement of the frequency of seizures and symptoms; 

✔ assessment of responsiveness to treatment; 

✔ monitoring the effectiveness of therapy over time; 

✔ easier clinical decision-making based on real-world data; 

✔ less reliance on the patient's memory when taking the medical history

 NeuroCare Tracker Bot is especially useful for patients with epilepsy, migraine, functional neurological disorders, chronic conditions that require regular medication, as well as conditions where long-term monitoring of symptoms is important.

The tool's goal is simple: to help patients better monitor their own health, and doctors to obtain higher-quality information for making clinical decisions.

The Research Institute of Neurodevelopment, Neurology and Rehabilitation also pays attention to disaster medicine — on a par with pre-medical first aid, this knowledge and these skills may prove useful in real life, and in conditions of war they are extremely relevant. 

The institute's specialists work with neurodivergent children — they carry out diagnostics and give practical advice on how the family and the child can live with it;

An EEG examination can be carried out. Priority goes to veterans, military personnel and neurodivergent children, but the service is also available to other patients. 

The priority — the consequences of the war

The institute's priority remains research related to the impact of the war on the health of the population. In particular, this concerns neurotraumas in military personnel, the restoration of functionality and working capacity, the role of the family in rehabilitation, and the development of children under chronic stress.

The institute does not reduce its work to diagnoses. The focus is on development as a process, the child as a personality, the family as a system, and the environment as a factor of influence. The approach is multidisciplinary, evidence-based, individualised and oriented towards a long-term result.

How the healthcare system responds to the neurological consequences of the war determines how fully veterans and civilians will be able to return to active life.

By investing in neurological health, the institute invests in the country's future — for the recovery of everyone who has suffered from the war.

https://bot.nnrri.eu/