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Neuromuscular Diseases

According to the Medline Plus, neuromuscular diseases are caused by neurons deteriorating or breaking down. When neurons deteriorate, muscles lose their connection to the nervous system and eventually break down or become weak. Some of the most common symptoms associated with neuromuscular diseases are twitching, pains, aches, cramps, and joint problems. Some of the most common neuromuscular diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy, and Parkinson's disease.

  1. Muscular Dystrophy

    • Medline Plus explains that muscular dystrophy refers to a group of disorders that make muscles weak. Over time these disorders cause muscle tissue to deteriorate. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of muscular dystrophy include muscle weakness, lack of coordination, progressive crippling, frequent falls, large calf muscles, difficulty running or jumping, and mild mental retardation. Muscular dystrophy is caused by a genetic mutation.

    Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) causes extreme muscle weakness and eventually results in death. Lou Gehrig's disease is the most common name for ALS. Approximately 1 to 3 people out of every 100,000 people throughout the world have the disease. Most of the time doctors don't know what causes ALS. One of the first signs of ALS is muscle twitching, slurred speech, and weak extremities.

    Myasthenia Gravis

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, myasthenia gravis results in rapid fatigue and weakness of the body's voluntary muscles. The primary cause behind myasthenia gravis is the connection between nerves and muscles breaking down. Myasthenia gravis has no treatment, but there are ways to alleviate symptoms associated with the disease. Approximately 2 out of 10,000 people have myasthenia gravis, and the disease is more common among women under the age of 40 and men over the age of 60.

    Spinal Bulbar Muscular Atrophy

    • According to the National Institute of Health, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy results in lower motor neurons gradually deteriorating. This results in muscle weakness, fasciculation, and muscle atrophy and spinal bulbar muscular atrophy only occur in males. According to MDA.org, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy occurs among adults between the ages of 30 and 50 most often. Spinal bulbar muscular atrophy is a neuromuscular disease that progresses very slowly over the course of decades.

    Parkinson's Disease

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, Parkinson's disease is also a disease that develops slowly just as spinal bulbar muscular atrophy does. The first and most common sign of Parkinson's disease is tremors in a person's hand. There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, but there are medications that can help to alleviate symptoms. Other symptoms of Parkinson's disease include slow motion, rigid muscles, impaired posture or balance, loss of automatic movement, speech changes, and dementia. Parkinson's disease is caused by lack of dopamine, a chemical that exists in the brain. Lack of dopamine occurs when brain cells that normally produce dopamine become impaired or die.

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