Muscular dystonia in adults and children: the causes and treatment of the syndrome

Muscular dystonia is a disease of the nervous system, which is characterized by a motor impairment of certain muscle groups that occurs regardless of the will of the patient.

This leads to arbitrary and uncontrolled contractions of the muscular system, during which a person can take an unnatural pose. Such involuntary, irregular and uncontrolled movements can occur in different parts of the body.

There is a violation on the background of a violation of the work of one of the departments of the human nervous system. It is important to note that muscle contractions can be painful, but the psychological health of a person is not violated.

Muscular dystonia in infants

Quite often young parents notice a certain physical retardation in their newborn baby. For proper physical development, muscle tone should be normal. This suggests that minimally stressed muscles should be even during sleep.

For example, in an infant up to two years of age, limbs are always in a half-bent state, and the head is slightly inclined backward.

As a hypotone( increased relaxation of all muscles), and hypertonus( increased muscle tension) cause discomfort and nervousness in the infant, or vice versa( constantly sleepy, little to react).The child will be constantly in a hectic, crying and nervous.

What can cause a pathology:

• brain damage during labor;
• threatening miscarriage throughout pregnancy;
• placental abruption;
• long-term toxicosis;
• early pregnancy;
• premature delivery;
• genetics.

All the symptoms of the disease very often point to the attendant problems. These may be deviations of a different nature( neurological, neuromuscular, chromosomal).

Syndrome in children

Syndrome of muscular dystonia is a disorder characterized by impaired motor activity and abnormally developed muscle tone. It is in childhood that doctors most often discover this condition.

The primary cause of development of muscular dystonia in a child may be genetic factors, for example, gene mutations. Also, the negative impact of the environment or bad habits provokes the development of the syndrome in childhood.

This neurological disorder, like muscular dystonia syndrome, is primarily due to a lack of transportation to the tissues of oxygen even during the intrauterine period.

The main reasons for the development of the syndrome in children include:

• the presence of the disease on diabetes mellitus in a pregnant woman;
• child perenashivanie;
• complications during pregnancy;Caesarean section;
• is a multiple pregnancy.

Muscular dystonia in less adult children of two years and older always indicates the malfunction of the nervous system. It is for this reason that the correct functionality and muscle tone can be broken, both on both sides of the body at once, and on one side.

For this pathology, parents must necessarily examine the child not only in the pediatrician, but also in the neurologist. If time to react, the prescribed treatment will lead to a full recovery.

How and why adults suffer from

The cause of dystonia is the malfunctioning of neural connections within the basal ganglia. They are located deep in the structure of the brain and are responsible for maintaining the correct posture of the body and controlling each movement.

Acquired state of muscular dystonia in an adult can be caused by various factors:

• brain injury;
• stroke;
• cerebral palsy;
• brain tumor;
• Huntington's chorea;
• oxygen starvation;
• is an infectious disease;
• medication;
• lead poisoning;
• Wilson-Konovalov's disease;
• encephalitis.

Idiopathic or primary dystonia is often inherited from parents. Symptoms can vary widely among members of the same family. Symptoms can be associated with specific tasks, such as writing, when due to convulsions a person can not write anything. People can develop symptoms of the disease as a result of taking certain medications.

Although dystonia is a neurological condition, doctors say that cognitive abilities( intelligence), memory and communication skills are not affected.

The main manifestations of the syndrome in an adult:

• handwriting worsens;
• convulsions in the limbs;
• frequent blinking;
• stiffness in the muscles;
• involuntary twisting of the neck;
• speech impairment;
• turning the foot;
• curvature of the spine.

Symptoms often lead to pain, disorganization in everyday life. In individual patients, the manifestations of the disease vary in severity - from minor discomforts and discomfort to a complete change in the normal functioning of individual muscle groups.

Symptoms often distort the appearance of the patient, so that people feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable. Because of this, social relations are falling apart.

People from the immediate circle( family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues at work) often do not know how to understand the problem of patients, and in fact the condition is often considered not only as a neurological disease, but also as a psychogenic illness.

Stages and varieties of the disease

In most cases in adulthood, muscular dystonia is diagnosed in patients aged 40 to 60 years, however, specialists observed cases when young people were also treated with signs of the disease.

The disease can be divided into two types:

1. Primary dystonia is a disorder that develops against the background of a genetic factor. Specialists can not determine another disease or neurological damage that could cause muscular dystonia syndrome.
2. Secondary dystonia - when the disorder occurs as a consequence of the baseline condition. As a rule, these are genetic, neurological injuries that affect the nervous system.

There are three stages of the state:

1. The first stage is characterized by the fact that the signs of the disease appear as a small strain in the muscles, however, the tonus quickly returns to normal.
2. The second stage. Symptoms are noticeable to others during movements, well, after a while and during rest.
3. Third stage. Noticeable physical defects that are formed as a result of prolonged muscle spasms( the spine is curved, the foot / foot is bent, torticollis, cerebral palsy).

Diagnosis and treatment of

In order to diagnose the disease, doctors send the patient to EMG( electromyography) and take a blood and urine sample from him. Sometimes, in order to confirm the disease, genetic tests are performed.

Unfortunately, there are no treatments that would completely cure the disease. The doctor after the appointment appoints the most appropriate set of measures that will help reduce the symptoms.

The main ways to treat muscular dystonia:

1. Treatment with The botulinum toxin , which acts as a braking effect at the joint of nerves with muscles, and thus inhibits the transmission of nervous irritation to the muscles.
2. Oral preparations of - affect inhibitory neurotransmitters( hormones in the brain that help transfer information between neurons).They regulate the transmission of information in the brain and affect the reduction of muscle spasms.
3. Surgery .Includes placement of thin electrodes, which are connected with a neurostimulator placed in the subcutaneous tissue. Typically, surgical treatment is offered to patients with the most severe forms of dystonia, when other methods are simply useless.
4. In most cases, physiotherapy is recommended, for example, laryngeal massage( to improve speech).
5. Some people resort to unconventional methods of , which do not have proven effectiveness.

Everyone knows that drugs start to act in the human body much faster than any folk remedy. It is for this reason that one should listen to the doctor and begin taking the prescribed medication.

Specialists for the treatment of muscular dystonia syndrome may prescribe the following drugs:

• Semax;
• Cerebrolysin;
• Midokalm;
• Baclofen;
• Pantocalcin.

In recent years, significant progress has been made in basic science, especially genetics, related to the development of the disease.

Possible complications and prophylaxis of

In some patients, involuntary muscle contractions spontaneously alleviate or completely disappear. However, over time, there may be a repetition.

In severe cases, involuntary contractions of the muscles can lead to complications, for example, there is a risk of joint dislocation, curvature of the spine, development of infantile cerebral palsy.

Some patients due to complication of symptoms become disabled. In addition, involuntary muscle contraction for many patients is a serious psychological problem that can lead to the development of depression.

In order to avoid such a diagnosis and improve the general condition of the body, you need to completely revise your lifestyle.

Refuse bad habits, change the diet, in the morning perform simple physical exercises, more walk in the fresh air. Take care of yourself and your health!