Definition
Tardive dyskinesia is a movement disorder that occurs characteristically during prolonged treatment with dopamine receptor blocking drugs, such as antipsychotics and compounds with strong sedative action, such as haloperidol, prochlorperazine and metoclopramide. These categories of drugs, in general, are used in patients undergoing psychiatric treatment (especially for schizophrenia).
Tardive dyskinesia therefore represents a side effect at extrapyramidal level of this type of drug, to be correlated to a hypersensitivity of dopaminergic receptors.
Tardive dyskinesia mainly affects the muscles of the face (in particular, tongue and lips), but it is not excluded that it may occur in other parts of the body; the patient performs involuntary, repetitive and stereotyped involuntary movements, such as reaching out and snapping the tongue, sucking, blowing and chewing.
Facial tics and grimaces are also common, and you can observe uncontrolled finger movements, trunk oscillations, extensions and / or flexion of the feet and other unusual gestures. The disorder typically subsides or disappears during sleep, while it increases in conditions of emotional tension.
Tardive dyskinesia is more common in the elderly and high doses of drugs increase the likelihood of this occurring. The symptomatology can appear during the treatment (generally after years from the beginning of the therapy) and it is subject to deterioration if the taking of the triggering drug is abruptly reduced or suspended.
Possible Causes * of Tardive Dyskinesia
- Autism
- Bipolar disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Tourette syndrome
