Dystonia Will Not Control My Life
Have you ever wondered what life would be like with an uncontrollable muscle spasm? How would it change your life? One type of muscle spasm is called Dystonia, which causes a twitching with a group of muscles moving involuntarily. Understanding what Dystonia is can help the victim's and everyone who knows them. People with Dystonia are different then people without it because thay are sometimes not able to do the same physical activities. For example a "normal" person can drive a car, a person with spasmodic torticollis, a form of dystonia that affects the neck and shoulders, might have dystonia so badly that they can't watch the road long enough to control the car.
Whom does Dystonia affect?
Around half a million people suffer from Dystonia in the United States (O'Connor). It is estimated that 6% of the people with Dystonia have obtained accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment (Wallace). Dystonia is a term for a group of neurological disorders that result in sustained involuntary muscle spasms in one or more parts of the body (Fact sheet). Dystonia is suspected to be a defect in the body's ability to process a particular group of chemicals, which help transmit nerve impulses (Bair). Dystonia causes painful muscle contractions and can affect the eyes, face, neck, voice and limbs (Dystonia). It is the second most common movement disorder next to Parkinson's (Dystonia).
Treatments
Dystonia is treated by the most potent nerve poison known, Botulinum toxin (Dystonia). BOTOX (Botulinum toxin) is a purified neutrotoxin complex, a purified form of the toxin of the Bacterium clostridium botulium (fact sheet). This treatment is available to the forms of Dystonia affecting the face and eyelid muscles (Fact sheet). This treatment is being used by 5,000 patients (Fact Sheet). While there is no cure the treatments relieve some of the pain and reduce some of the over active motor activity (Wallace).
Types of Dystonia
Spasmodic torticollis or S.T. is a type of Dystonia that can affect the muscles in the neck and shoulders. S.T. is the most common form of Dystonia affecting approximately 83,000 people. About three out of every 10,000 people are affected by S.T. (Wallace). The patients' neck may turn or the muscles may pull involuntary and tighten up, more so when they are tired (Bair).
Another type of dystonia is Blepharospasm is when the eyelids, jaws, lips, or tongue are involved.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a physical impairment which causes the loose of the muscle and the weak bone.
Answer: Spasticity is a form of hypertonia, or increased muscle tone. This result in stiff muscles which can make movement difficulty or even impossible. It can interfere with normal movement, speech and gait. Spasticity is caused by damage to the portion of the brain or Spinal Cord that control voluntary movements (Cerebral Palsy Alliance,
Muscular Dystrophy is a diverse group of disease which involves the weakness and wasting of muscles and leads to many other problems in physiological system. It is because of mutation in gene related to contraction and relaxation of muscles. Although recently no perfect treatment option is available for it but in nearby future cure of this disease will be available due to advanced technology and methods like gene therapy and stem cell technology.
Flaccid dysarthria results from damage to the lower motor neurons (LMN) or the peripheral nervous system (Hageman, 1997). The characteristics of flaccid dysarthria generally reflect damage to cranial nerves with motor speech functions (e.g., cranial nerves IX, X, XI and XII) (Seikel, King & Drumright, 2010). Lower motor neurons connect the central nervous system to the muscle fibers; from the brainstem to the cranial nerves with motor function, or from the anterior horns of grey matter to the spinal nerves (Murdoch, 1998). If there are lesions to spinal nerves and the cranial nerves with motor speech functions, it is indicative of a lower motor neuron lesion and flaccid dysarthria. Damage to lower motor neurons that supply the speech muscles is also known as bulbar palsy (Pena-Brooks & Hedge, 2007). Potential etiologies of flaccid dysarthria include spinal cord injury, cerebrovascular accidents, tumors or traumatic brain injury (Pena-Brooks & Hedge, 2007). Possible congenital etiologies of flaccid dysarthria include Moebius syndrome and cerebral palsy. Flaccid dysarthria can also arise from infections such as polio, herpes zoster, and secondary infections to AIDS (Pena-Brooks & Hedge, 2007). Additionally, demyelinating diseases such as Guilian-Barre syndrome and myotonic muscular dystrophy can also lead to flaccid dysarthria (Pena-Brookes & Hedge, 2007). The lower motor neuron lesion results in loss of voluntary muscle control, and an inability to maintain muscle tone. Fasciculations, or twitching movements, may occur if the cell body is involved in the lesion (Seikel et. al., 2010). The primary speech characteristics of flaccid dysarthria include imprecise consonant production, hypernasal resonance, breathiness, and harsh voice (...
Hypokinetic Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder that is often associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD). It can occur when there is interference in the basal ganglia control circuit. These disruptions can include “degenerative, vascular, traumatic, infectious, inflammatory, neoplastic, and toxic-metabolic diseases (Duffy, 2013, p. 176).” Damage to the basal ganglia control circuit results in reduced range of motion as well as the inability to inhibit involuntary movements. Hypokinetic dysarthria is most commonly caused by PD; a progressive, neurogenic disease that is characterized by tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and incoordination. Eighty-seven percent of hypokinetic dysarthria cases are associated with degenerative disease (Duffy, 2013).
Muscular dystrophy refers to, not one, but a group of muscle diseases. These diseases have three features in common: they are hereditary; they are progressive; and each causes a characteristic and selective pattern of weakness. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most prevalent and severe childhood form of this group of diseases.
Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a genetic disorder that weakens skeletal muscles, the muscles that enable the human body to move. People with muscular dystrophy have missing or incorrect information in their genes, which prevents them from making the proteins they need for healthy muscles. Due to fact that muscular dystrophy is genetic, it is not contagious or contractible from another person; a person must be born with the problem.
Muscular Dystrophy is a genetic disorder in which your muscles drastically weaken over time. Muscles are replaced with “connective tissue,” which is more of a fatty tissue than a muscular one. The connective tissue is the tissue that is commonly found in scars, and that same tissue is incapable of movement. Although Muscular Dystrophy affects muscles in general, other types affect certain groups of muscles, and happen at different periods throughout a lifetime. For example one of the most common types, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, targets muscles in the upper thigh and pelvis. The disease is displayed throughout early childhood, usually between ages four and seven. This genetic disorder occurs only in boys. People have difficulty sitting up or standing and lose their ability to walk in their early teens. Sadly most people die by the age of twenty. A second common type, Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy affects the same muscles as Duchenne, but first appears in teenage years. Most people with Becker’s only live into their forties (Fallon 1824-1825).
Muscular dystrophy is a complex disease that has been around for many years. Although it was discovered in the 1830s there is constant discoveries about the disorder. (“New knowledge about Muscular dystrophy,” 2014 May 5) There are several research studies being done around the world to help find a cure. Here’s to hoping that a cure will be found and no more lives will be taken by this debilitating disease (“Muscular Dystrophy: Hope through Research,” 16 April 2014)
Anyone can suffer from torticollis following a muscle injury or nervous system. However, in most cases, the cause of torticollis is unknown. In this case, it is called idiopathic torticollis.
Parkinson disease (PD), also referred to as Parkinson’s disease and paralysis agitans, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the third most common neurologic disorder of older adults. It is a debilitating disease affecting motor ability and is characterized by four cardinal symptoms: tremor rigidity, bradykinesia or kinesis (slow movement/no movement), and postural instability. Most people have primary, or idiopathic, disease. A few patients have secondary parkinsonian symptoms from conditions such as brain tumors and certain anti-psychotic drugs.
Khalil, A., & Malik, S. (2013). Movement disorders and tremors. InnovAiT: The RCGP Journal for Associates in Training, 6(7), 416-424.
DMD also known as muscular dystrophy is muscular disease that occurs on young boys around age four to six. Muscular dystrophy is genetically transmitted disease carried from parent to offspring. This disease progressively damages or disturbs skeletal and cardiac muscle functions starting on the lower limbs. Obviously by damaging the muscle, the lower limbs and other muscles affected become very weak. This is ultimately caused by the lack dystrophin, a protein the body produces.
Many people around the world today suffer from Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. A movement disorder is a disorder impairing the speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement. There are many types of movement disorders such as impaired fluency and speed of movement (dyskinesia), excessive movements (hyperkinesia), and slurred movements (hypokinesia). Some types of movement disorders are ataxia, a lack of coordination, Huntington's disease, multiple system atrophies, myoclonus, brief, rapid outbursts of movement, progressive supranuclear palsy, restless legs syndrome, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, tics, Tourette's syndrome, tremor, Wilson disease, dystonia, which causes involuntary body movement, and Parkinson's disease. Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, and tics are one of the most widely known of these disorders, known to impair people of movements and rob them of their lives.
.... Rest tremor is usually unilateral starting from hand and foot and the movement of the fingers and thumb is usually described as pill rolling action. As the disease progresses, the tremors spread to all the four limbs. The counter action of muscles such as contraction and relaxation is disturbed leading to muscles soreness and finally rigidity. Patients experience slowness in their routine activities and tend to fall backward due to loss of postural reflexes. Other secondary signs include mask like face, slurred speech, drooling of saliva, difficulty in writing commonly called as micrographia, constipation, depression and difficulty in swallowing. Parkinson's malady is regularly connected with psychiatric dullness, which incorporates discouragement, uneasiness, and dopaminergic psychosis. Therefore, several medications and psycho therapies are available for relief.