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Spasm
A spasm is a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ, such as the bladder. A spasmodic muscle contraction may be caused by many medical conditions, including dystonia. Most commonly, it is a muscle cramp which is accompanied by a sudden burst of pain. A muscle cramp is usually harmless and ceases after a few minutes. It is typically caused by ion imbalance or muscle fatigue. There are other causes of involuntary muscle contractions, and some of these may cause a health problem. A series of spasms, or permanent spasms, is referred to as a "spasmism". Description and causes Spasms occur when the part of the brain that controls movement malfunctions, causing involuntary muscle activity. A spasm may be a muscle contraction caused by abnormal nerve stimulation or by abnormal activity of the muscle itself. Causes The cause of spasms is often unknown, but it can be due to an inherited genetic problem, a side effect of medicatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Blepharospasm
Blepharospasm is a neurological disorder characterized by intermittent, involuntary spasms and contractions of the orbicularis oculi muscle, orbicularis oculi (eyelid) muscles around both eyes. These result in abnormal twitching or blinking, and in the extreme, sustained eyelid closure resulting in functional blindness. The word blepharospasm is derived from the Greek: βλέφαρον / blepharon, eyelid, and σπασμός / spasmos, ''spasm,'' an uncontrolled muscle contraction. The condition should be distinguished from the more common, and milder, involuntary quivering of an eyelid, known as myokymia or fasciculation. Blepharospasm is one form of a group of movement disorders called dystonia. It may be a primary or secondary disorder. The primary disorder is benign essential blepharospasm, in which term the qualifier ''essential'' indicates that the Idiopathic, cause is unknown. Blepharospasm may occur as secondary to conditions including dry eyes and other specific ocul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cricopharyngeal Spasm
Cricopharyngeal spasms occur in the cricopharyngeus muscle of the pharynx. Cricopharyngeal spasm is an uncomfortable but harmless and self-limiting (biology), temporary disorder. Signs and symptoms * Sensation of a 'lump' in the back of the throat * Throat feels swollen * Discomfort - Lump can often feel quite big and pain is occasional * Symptoms normally worse in the evening * Stress (biology), Stress aggravates the symptoms * Saliva is difficult to swallow, yet food is easy to swallow - eating, in fact, often makes the tightness go away for a time * 'Lump' sensation comes and goes from day to day * Symptoms can persist for very long periods, often several months. * The symptoms can be mimicked by pushing on the cartilage in the neck, just below the Adam's apple Physiology There are two sphincters in the oesophagus. They are normally contracted and they relax when one swallows so that food can pass through them going to the stomach. They then squeeze closed again to prevent r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Antispasmodic
An antispasmodic (synonym: spasmolytic) is a pharmaceutical drug or other agent that suppresses muscle spasms. Smooth muscle spasm One type of antispasmodics is used for smooth muscle relaxation, especially in tubular organs of the gastrointestinal tract. The effect is to prevent spasms of the stomach, intestine or urinary bladder. Both dicyclomine and hyoscyamine are antispasmodic due to their anticholinergic action. Both of these drugs have side effects common to anticholinergics and can worsen gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Papaverine is an opium alkaloid used to treat visceral spasms, particularly those of the intestines. Mebeverine is a papaverine analog and spasmolytic with a strong and selective action on the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract, particularly of the colon. Despite being anticholinergic, it does not have the systemic anticholinergic side effects seen in other such drugs. Peppermint oil has been traditionally used as an antispasmodic, and a r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cadaveric Spasm
Cadaveric spasm, also known as postmortem spasm, instantaneous rigor mortis, cataleptic rigidity, or instantaneous rigidity, is a rare form of muscular stiffening that occurs at the moment of death and persists into the period of rigor mortis. Cadaveric spasm can be distinguished from rigor mortis as the former is a stronger stiffening of the muscles that cannot be easily undone, while rigor mortis can. Unlike rigor mortis, cadaveric spasms are believed to be an ante-mortem phenomenon. The cause is unknown but is usually associated with violent deaths under extreme physical circumstances with intense emotion, such as the circumstances associated with death via combustion. Manifestation Cadaveric spasm may affect all muscles in the body, but typically only groups, such as the forearms, or hands. Cadaveric spasm is seen in cases of drowning victims when grass, weeds, roots or other materials are clutched, and provides evidence of life at the time of entry into the water. Cadaveri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Dystonia
Dystonia is a neurology, neurological Hyperkinesia, hyperkinetic Movement disorders, movement disorder in which sustained or repetitive muscle contractions occur involuntarily, resulting in twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal fixed postures. The movements may resemble a tremor. Dystonia is often intensified or exacerbated by physical activity, and symptoms may progress into adjacent muscles. The disorder may be Heredity, hereditary or caused by other factors such as birth trauma (physical), birth-related or other Injury, physical trauma, infection, poisoning (e.g., lead poisoning) or reaction to Medication, pharmaceutical drugs, particularly Antipsychotic, neuroleptics, or stress. Treatment must be highly customized to the needs of the individual and may include oral medications, chemodenervation Botulinum toxin, botulinum neurotoxin injections, physical therapy, or other supportive therapies, and surgical procedures such as deep brain stimulation. Classification The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cramp
A cramp is a sudden, involuntary, painful skeletal muscle contraction or overshortening associated with electrical activity. While generally temporary and non-damaging, they can cause significant pain and a paralysis-like immobility of the affected muscle. A cramp usually goes away on its own over several seconds or (sometimes) minutes. Cramps are common and tend to occur at rest, usually at night (nocturnal leg cramps). They are also often associated with pregnancy, physical exercise or overexertion, and age (common in older adults); in such cases, cramps are called idiopathic because there is no underlying pathology. In addition to those benign conditions cramps are also associated with many pathological conditions. Cramp definition is narrower than the definition of muscle spasm: spasms include any involuntary abnormal muscle contractions, while cramps are sustained and painful. True cramps can be distinguished from other cramp-like conditions. Cramps are different from mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sense, sensation, visual perception, vision, hearing, and speech. Often, babies with cerebral palsy do not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as early as other children. Other symptoms may include seizures and problems with cognition, thinking or reasoning. While symptoms may get more noticeable over the first years of life, underlying problems do not worsen over time. Cerebral palsy is caused by abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture. Most often, the problems occur during pregnancy, but may occur during childbirth or shortly afterwards. Often, the cause is unknown. Risk factors include preterm birth, being a twin, certain infections or exposure to methylmercury duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Spasticity
Spasticity () is a feature of altered skeletal muscle performance with a combination of paralysis, increased tendon reflex activity, and hypertonia. It is also colloquially referred to as an unusual "tightness", stiffness, or "pull" of muscles. Clinically, spasticity results from the loss of inhibition of motor neurons, causing excessive velocity-dependent muscle contraction. This ultimately leads to hyperreflexia, an exaggerated deep tendon reflex. Spasticity is often treated with the drug baclofen, which acts as an agonist at GABA receptors, which are inhibitory. Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common form of cerebral palsy, which is a group of permanent movement problems that do not get worse over time. GABA's inhibitory actions contribute to baclofen's efficacy as an anti-spasticity agent. Pathophysiology Spasticity is usually caused by damage to nerve pathways within the brain or spinal cord that control muscle movement. This can cause an imbalance in the inhibitory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Convulsion
A convulsion is a medical condition where the body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly, resulting in uncontrolled shaking. Because epileptic seizures typically include convulsions, the term ''convulsion'' is often used as a synonym for ''seizure''. However, not all epileptic seizures result in convulsions, and not all convulsions are caused by epileptic seizures. Non-epileptic convulsions have no relation with epilepsy, and are caused by non-epileptic seizures. Convulsions can be caused by epilepsy, infections (including a severe form of listeriosis which is caused by eating food contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes), brain trauma, or other medical conditions. They can also occur from an electric shock or improperly enriched air for scuba diving. The word ''fit'' is sometimes used to mean a convulsion or epileptic seizure. Signs and symptoms A person having a convulsion may experience several different symptoms, such as a brief blackout, confusion, drooling, l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hypertonia
Hypertonia is a term sometimes used synonymously with ''spasticity'' and ''rigidity'' in the literature surrounding damage to the central nervous system, namely upper motor neuron lesions. Impaired ability of damaged motor neurons to regulate descending pathways gives rise to disordered spinal reflexes, increased excitability of muscle spindles, and decreased synaptic inhibition. These consequences result in abnormally increased muscle tone of symptomatic muscles. Some authors suggest that the current definition for spasticity, the velocity-dependent overactivity of the stretch reflex, is not sufficient as it fails to take into account patients exhibiting increased muscle tone in the absence of stretch reflex over-activity. They instead suggest that "reversible hypertonia" is more appropriate and represents a treatable condition that is responsive to various therapy modalities like drug or physical therapy. Presentation Symptoms associated with central nervous systems diso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalent as the disease progresses. The motor symptoms are collectively called parkinsonism and include tremors, bradykinesia, spasticity, rigidity as well as postural instability (i.e., difficulty maintaining balance). Non-motor symptoms develop later in the disease and include behavior change (individual), behavioral changes or mental disorder, neuropsychiatric problems such as sleep abnormalities, psychosis, anosmia, and mood swings. Most Parkinson's disease cases are idiopathic disease, idiopathic, though contributing factors have been identified. Pathophysiology involves progressive nerve cell death, degeneration of nerve cells in the substantia nigra, a midbrain region that provides dopamine to the basal ganglia, a system invo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functioning properly. Signs and symptoms of stroke may include an hemiplegia, inability to move or feel on one side of the body, receptive aphasia, problems understanding or expressive aphasia, speaking, dizziness, or homonymous hemianopsia, loss of vision to one side. Signs and symptoms often appear soon after the stroke has occurred. If symptoms last less than 24 hours, the stroke is a transient ischemic attack (TIA), also called a mini-stroke. subarachnoid hemorrhage, Hemorrhagic stroke may also be associated with a thunderclap headache, severe headache. The symptoms of stroke can be permanent. Long-term complications may include pneumonia and Urinary incontinence, loss of b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
