health of the nervous system

Dystonia in brief: Summary on Dystonia

Scroll down the page to read the summary table on dystonia.

Dystonia	Listed among the movement disorders known as dyskinesias, dystonia causes involuntary muscle contractions and spasms, which force the affected subject to take abnormal physical postures unusual movements
Characteristics of movements dystonic	Abnormal physical postures Uncomfortable and twisted postures Unusual movements, often painful and repetitive Reversibility of the dystonic position: not always possible immediately
Dystonia: incidence	1988: first epidemiological study 300 patients every million healthy subjects; After some years 110 patients per million (of healthy subjects) in England 60 dystonic per million (of healthy subjects) in Japan Dystonia is present in 370 subjects per million healthy subjects: USA: 300, 000 people affected by dystonia Italy 20, 000 dystonic patients The target of focal dystonic forms is adults Children between the ages of 6 and 10 are at greater risk of generalized dystonia It is one of the most common movement disorders, after Parkinson's disease and tremor.
Diatonia: target	Ideally, dystonia could affect men, women and children of all ages and all races without distinction In humans: legs and arms are the most affected by dystonia Minimum female prevalence in some dystonic forms
Dystonia: general characteristics	Chronic pathology that only rarely affects the patient's cognition Unlikely decrease in life expectancy Dystonia does not identify terminal pathologies Impairment of the patient's quality of life Different degrees of pain and disability, characteristics classified on an ideal scale of evaluation Dystonic muscular contractions that last over time Torsional movements comparable to the movement of the snake Frequency and repetition of the anomalous involuntary muscle contractions: elements that are common to all forms of dystonia
Action dystonia	During a simple action, such as writing, the patient suffering from dystonia could present further bizarre atypical movements, worsened by the putting into practice of voluntary "antagonistic" movements
Dystonia: age of onset	Early onset dystonia (infantile-adolescent): most often appears at 9 years of age and mainly affects a limb Late-onset dystonia: generally appears in adulthood, after 30 years, in particular between 40 and 60
General classification of dystonias	Dystonias are cataloged according to: Localization: based on the interest of the various anatomical sites affected by dystonia (focal dystonias) Age of onset of the disorder (generalized dystonias) Causative cause (secondary dystonia)
Generalized dystonia	Childhood dystonia Paroxysmal dystonia
Secondary dystonia	Idiopathic dystonias Symptomatic dystonias Iatrogenic dystonia
Focal dystonia	Description: the anomalous movements are prolonged in time, arrhythmic, up to degenerate causing real fixed and immobile positions Classification: Dystonia of the upper limb (eg. Cramp of the scribe, dystonia of the musicians): focal dystonias related to particular activities (eg playing, writing). Botulinum toxin is the excellent therapeutic option to remedy this focal dystonia Blepharospasm: the disease affects the face, in particular the upper part. It is characterized by muscle contractions and spasms that mainly involve the eyelids Cervical dystonia (or spasmodic torticollis): characterized by evident involuntary spasms in the neck musculature. It is the most frequent focal shape Laryngeal dystonia: Laryngeal stridor, Spasmodic dysphonia adductory, Dysphonia abductory hemidystonia
Neurovegetative-paroxysmal dystonia	Description: muscle contractions and involuntary spasms of the extrapyramidal system, associated with severe migraine and sudden seizures. Incidence: rather rare pathology Classification: Symptomatic paroxysmal dystonia (familial and sporadic genetic forms) Primitive paroxysmal dystonia (familial and sporadic genetic forms) Paroxysmal choreoetetic kinesigenic dystonia Paroxysmal hypnogenic dystonia Paroxysmal ataxia responding to acetazolamide Choreoatetotic paroxysmal dystonia Family periodic ataxia Therapies: mild dystonia: some homeopathic or neuropathic remedies. It is the specialist's duty to prescribe the most suitable therapy for the dystonic-paroxysmal patient
Dystonia: causes	Often the causes related to the manifestation of dystonia are not detectable traumas Intake of particular pharmacological substances for long periods (antipsychotics-neuroleptics) Mutation of some genes (eg DYT1) Nervous system disorders (stroke, tumors, multiple sclerosis, head injury, bacterial infections, neonatal brain damage, etc.) Hereditary diseases affecting some areas of the nervous system (heredegenerative diseases)
Dystonia: diagnosis	Doctors do not have a single standard diagnostic test to confirm the dystonia hypothesis; Clinical evaluation of the patient Know the patient's history Laboratory investigations (eg analysis of urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid) Brain MRI (Brain Magnetic Resonance) TC ("image diagnosis") Neuroimaging Electromyographic investigation of muscle activity (EMG) Molecular genetic diagnostic test
Dystonia: therapies	Oral administration of targeted pharmacological specialties Intrathecal administration of muscle relaxants Botulinum toxin injections Surgical therapy Neurosurgery intervention Non-pharmacological therapies Psychological support therapy Limb cast Physical therapy Complementary therapy (acupuncture, yoga, meditation, pilates)
Dystonia: prognosis	The onset age of dystonia is fundamental to hypothesize an evolutionary prognosis of kinetic disorder Onset dystonia at an early age: greater probability of degeneration of the disease Onset dystonia in adulthood: greater possibility of stabilization of dystonic symptoms