|  | Conditions Treatments | Medical Conditions

What Is the Meaning of Tetraparesis?

Tetraparesis is an ailment that can occur not only in human beings, but also in their pets. It even occurs in turtles and birds. In tetraparesis, all four limbs experience an abnormal weakness, either because of nerve damage or else because the muscles themselves do not function properly.

  1. Etymology of Tetraparesis

    • The prefix "tetra-" comes from "tessares," the Greek number 4. "Paresis" comes from the Greek verb "pariēmi," which means "to let drop beside or at the side, let fall"; a slightly different form of this verb means "to be relaxed, weakened," according to "Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon."

    Definition of Tetraparesis

    • Tetraparesis is a disorder in which the muscles of all four limbs become weak. In human beings, tetraparesis affects the muscles of both arms and both legs. In animals like the dog or the cat, it affects the four legs. Quadriparesis is a synonym.

    Hereditary Sickness

    • Sometimes tetraparesis is a hereditary sickness caused by a defective gene. Muscles need various proteins called enzymes to develop and function normally, and genes direct the process by which these proteins are made. If you have a defective gene that cannot give the necessary directions for making one of these proteins, tetraparesis may develop. A number of muscle diseases, all of which are called "muscular dystrophy," usually lead to tetraparesis, according to Mondo Facto.

    Nonhereditary Causes

    • Tetraparesis can result from a deficiency of potassium and an excess of sodium in the blood. This may occur as a side effect of certain drugs like glycyrrhizin, which comes from the licorice plant. Allergic reactions to substances like wasp venom may also cause tetraparesis. Damage to spinal nerves or pressure on these nerves may cause weakness of arm and leg muscles if it does not paralyze them altogether, according to NCBI.

    Spastic Tetraparesis

    • The term tetraparesis also applies to a severe form of cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy results from brain damage either before birth or in early infancy. Its symptoms are an inability to move some muscles properly. In severe cases, uncontrollable jerky motion results. This is spastic cerebral palsy. If this spastic condition involves the entire body, including all four limbs, this is spastic tetraparesis, according to the Timisoara Medical Journal.

    Symptoms of Tetraparesis

    • Tetraparesis is a disorder that may produce other symptoms besides weakness in the arms and legs. For example, mental retardation and impairment of vision are symptoms of some types of tetraparesis, according to Wrong Diagnosis.

    Tetraparesis and Tetraplegia

    • Tetraparesis and tetraplegia have similar meanings, but they are distinct. In tetraparesis the limb muscles are weak, but in tetraplegia the limb muscles are paralyzed, according to DVM, a veterinary website.

Medical Conditions - Related Articles