Palsy is a
medical term
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
which refers to various types of
paralysis
Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...
[Dan Agin, ''More Than Genes: What Science Can Tell Us About Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children'' (2009), p. 172.] or
paresis
In medicine, paresis (), compound word from Greek , (πᾰρᾰ- “beside” + ἵημι “let go, release”), is a condition typified by a weakness of voluntary movement, or by partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. Whe ...
, often accompanied by weakness and the loss of feeling and uncontrolled body movements such as shaking. The word originates from the
Anglo-Norman ''paralisie'', ''parleisie'' ''et al.'', from the accusative form of Latin ''paralysis'', from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (''parálusis''), from παραλύειν (''paralúein'', "to disable on one side"), from παρά (''pará'', "beside") + λύειν (''lúein'', "loosen"). The word is longstanding in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
, having appeared in the play ''
Grim the Collier of Croydon'', reported to have been written as early as 1599:
In some editions, the Bible passage of
Luke
Luke may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...
5:18 is translated to refer to "a man which was taken with a palsy". More modern editions simply refer to a man who is paralysed. Although the term has historically been associated with paralysis generally, it "is now almost always used in connection to the word ''cerebral''—meaning the brain".
Specific kinds of palsy include:
*
Bell's palsy
Bell's palsy is a type of facial paralysis that results in a temporary inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side of the face. In most cases, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. Symptoms can vary f ...
, partial facial paralysis
*
Bulbar palsy, impairment of cranial nerves
*
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 b ...
, a neural disorder caused by intracranial lesions
*
Conjugate gaze palsy, a disorder affecting the ability to move the eyes
*
Erb's palsy
Erb's palsy is a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm's main nerves, specifically the severing of the upper trunk C5–C6 nerves. These form part of the brachial plexus, comprising the ventral rami of spinal nerve ...
, also known as brachial palsy, involving paralysis of an arm
*
Spinal muscular atrophy
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common geneti ...
, also known as wasting palsy
*
Progressive supranuclear palsy
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain, linked to 4-repeat tau pathology. The condition leads to symptoms including Balance di ...
, a degenerative disease
*
Squatter's palsy, a common name for bilateral
peroneal nerve
The common fibular nerve (also known as the common peroneal nerve, external popliteal nerve, or lateral popliteal nerve) is a nerve in the lower leg that provides sensation over the posterolateral part of the leg and the knee joint. It divides a ...
palsy that may be triggered by sustained
squatting
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...
*
Third nerve palsy, involving
cranial nerve III
References
External links
{{SIA
Medical terminology