Any disease or disorder affecting both the brain and spinal cord tissues, including degenerative and inflammatory conditions.
From Greek enkephalos (brain) + myelos (spinal cord) + pathos (disease or suffering). The -pathy suffix replaces -itis to indicate disease in general rather than specifically inflammation.
The difference between encephalomyelitis (inflammation) and encephalomyelopathy (any disease) is like the difference between fever (specific) and illness (general)—pathy is the umbrella term that covers all problems.
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