Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Muscle atrophy is the loss of skeletal muscle mass. It can be caused by immobility, aging, malnutrition, medications, or a wide range of injuries or diseases that impact the musculoskeletal or nervous system. Muscle atrophy leads to muscle weakness and causes disability.
Corticosteroids often cause muscle weakness to some degree in patients. Symptoms are usually weakness of the proximal muscles, neck flexor, and in extreme cases, respiratory muscle weakness can also occur. [1] Corticosteroids have not only been found to cause some degree of muscle atrophy, but also a local or diffuse cell death.
Prognosis depends on the individual form of muscular dystrophy. Some dystrophies cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle function, which may result in severe physical disability and a life-threatening deterioration of respiratory muscles or heart. Other dystrophies do not affect life expectancy and only cause relatively mild impairment. [2]
Damage to skeletal muscle may take various forms. Crush and other physical injuries cause damage to muscle cells directly or interfere with blood supply, while non-physical causes interfere with muscle cell metabolism. When damaged, muscle tissue rapidly fills with fluid from the bloodstream, including sodium ions.
The deterioration of locomotive components leads to symptoms such as pain, limitation in joint mobility, malalignment, balance disorder and gait abnormality. [5] Syndrome progression leads to reduced ability to perform activities of daily living independently and eventually results in decreased quality of life and necessity of nursing care.
The most common direct cause of death in people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy is respiratory failure. Complications from treatment, such as mechanical ventilation and tracheotomy procedures, are also a concern. The next leading cause of death is cardiac-related conditions such as heart failure brought on by dilated cardiomyopathy.
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to more porous bone, and consequent increase in fracture risk. It is the most common reason for a broken bone among the elderly . [ 3 ]
The disorder causes muscle weakness, atrophy, and muscle spasms throughout the body due to the degeneration of the upper motor and lower motor neurons. Sensory nerves and the autonomic nervous system are generally unaffected, meaning the majority of people with ALS maintain hearing , sight , touch , smell , and taste .