Symptoms of Muscular System Diseases

Muscles work in conjunction with the bones, tendons, and ligaments to move the body. Like any other organ system, muscles are prone to disease. Whether resulting from an infection, an injury, or a disorder, muscle disease symptoms are just as varied as the causes.

Mechanical Symptoms

• When there is injury to a muscle, pain and stiffness are common symptoms. Any sprain or strain will cause a sharp pain at the site of the injury, while excessive use of the muscle will cause a generalized or dull pain.

Neurological Disease

• Diseases of the nerves that send signals to the muscles present with symptoms of weakness or an inability to move the muscles. These diseases include Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, and Lou Gehrig disease.

Muscular Dystrophy

• Muscular dystrophy is a group of several diseases where the muscles waste away. Symptoms include muscle weakness, pain, inability to move properly (ataxia), and eventual loss of muscle mass.

Infection

• Viral infections, like the flu, have symptoms of muscle pain (myalgia) because the immune system's response to the infection produces chemicals that cause fever and muscle pain. There are some infections, viral and bacterial, which cause muscle tissue destruction as they use the tissue for food.

Treatment

• Because pain is the most common symptom of muscular disease, pain management is paramount in beginning treatment. Genetic conditions, such as muscular dystrophy or Lou Gehrig disease, are not treatable, but advances in the science of genetics look promising. For strains and sprains, simple rest and physical rehabilitation are sometimes enough.