Movement Disorders
Movement disorders are neurologic conditions that cause problems with movement, such as
• Increased movement that can be voluntary (intentional) or involuntary (unintended)
• Decreased or slow voluntary movement
Movement disorders are conventionally divided into two major categories- hyperkinetic and hypokinetic.
Hyperkinetic movement disorders refer to dyskinesia, or excessive, often repetitive, involuntary movements that intrude upon the normal flow of motor activity.
Hypokinetic movement disorders refer to akinesia (lack of movement), hypokinesia (reduced amplitude of movements), bradykinesia (slow movement) and rigidity.
Primary movement disorders, the abnormal movement is the primary manifestation of the disorder.
Secondary movement disorders, the abnormal movement is a manifestation of another systemic or neurological disorder.
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Classification of Movement Disorders
• Parkinson’s disease. This slowly progressive, neurodegenerative disorder causes tremor, stiffness (rigidity), slow decreased movement (bradykinesia) or imbalance. It may also cause other nonmovement symptoms.
• Parkinsonism describes a group of conditions that has symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease.
• Tremor. This movement disorder causes involuntary rhythmic shaking of parts of the body, such as the hands, head or other parts of the body. The most common type is essential tremor.
• Ataxia. This movement disorder affects the part of the brain that controls coordinated movement (cerebellum). Ataxia may cause uncoordinated or clumsy balance, speech or limb movements, and other symptoms.
• Cervical dystonia. This condition causes long-lasting contractions (spasms) or intermittent contractions of the neck muscles, causing the neck to turn in different ways.
• Chorea. Chorea is characterized by repetitive, brief, irregular, somewhat rapid, involuntary movements that typically involve the face, mouth, trunk and limbs.
• Dystonia. This condition involves sustained involuntary muscle contractions with twisting, repetitive movements. Dystonia may affect the entire body (generalized dystonia) or one part of the body (focal dystonia).
• Functional movement disorder. This condition may resemble any of the movement disorders, but is not due to neurological disease.
• Huntington’s disease This is an inherited progressive, neurodegenerative disorder that causes uncontrolled movements (chorea), impaired cognitive abilities and psychiatric conditions.
• Multiple system atrophy This uncommon, progressive neurological disorder affects many brain systems. Multiple system atrophy causes a movement disorder, such as ataxia or parkinsonism. It can also cause low blood pressure and impaired bladder function.
• Myoclonus. This condition causes lightning-quick jerks of a muscle or a group of muscles.
• Progressive supranuclear palsy. This is a rare neurological disorder that causes problems with walking, balance and eye movements. It may resemble Parkinson’s disease but is a distinct condition.
• Restless legs syndrome. This movement disorder causes unpleasant, abnormal feelings in the legs while relaxing or lying down, often relieved by movement.
• Tardive dyskinesia. This neurological condition is caused by long-term use of certain drugs used to treat psychiatric conditions (neuroleptic drugs). Tardive dyskinesia causes repetitive and involuntary movements such as grimacing, eye blinking and other movements.
• Tourette syndrome. This is a neurological condition that starts between childhood and teenage years and is associated with repetitive movements (motor tics) and vocal sounds (vocal tics).
• Wilson’s disease. This is a rare inherited disorder that causes excessive amounts of copper to build up in the body, causing neurological problems.
Symptoms
• excessive spontaneous movements,
• abnormal involuntary movements,
• paucity/ absence of movements, associated with rigidity and spasticity of muscles. abnormal movements that may be rhythmic, irregular, sustained or jerky.
• twitches, tics, flapping or writhing movements of the arms and/or head and
• abnormal sounds or grunts.
These symptoms may lead to severe disability and difficulty in leading a normal life for a person suffering from this disorder. Such patients need constant care and supervision for day to day activities, including everything from eating and sleeping to even personal hygiene.
Most movement disorders begin slowly.
In most cases, a co-worker or spouse may notice the problem before the patient realizes it. There may be initial weakness and stiffness of the muscles, which is usually an onset of involuntary movements such as twitches, tics, flapping or writhing movements of the arms and/or head and abnormal sounds or grunts.
The symptoms may persist throughout the day, or may appear only at certain instances.
Causes
• Genetics
• Stress anxiety and emotional disturbances
• Chronic diseases
• Alcohol consumption
• Iron deficiency
• Excessive copper in the body
• Neurodegenerative conditions
Amongst the varying causes of movement disorders research implicates that genetics is the most common amongst these. While stress and anxiety also play a vital role as they tend to trigger blood pressure levels that might lead to defects in the brain.
Treatment
While outlining therapy of movement disorders it is important to note that there are a range of movement disorders and each need spate attention and diagnosis although most of them are treated with the same armament of medications.
Movement disorders begin with the pathology within the brain and there are drugs that may help in therapy of these conditions.
