symptoms

Muscular atrophy - Causes and Symptoms

Definition

Muscular atrophy consists in reducing the volume of striated muscles, which results in weakness or complete loss of motor function (paralysis).

The causes of this process can be physiological (as happens, for example, in aging) or pathological.

Muscle atrophy reduces the quality of life by preventing the subject who suffers from carrying out normal daily activities (such as walking) or aggravating the risks of accidents while performing them.

The progressive decrease in muscle mass is a possible complication of various pathologies, which involve reduced functional stimulation, prolonged inactivity, poor oxygenation and various structural damages.

At the origin of atrophy, there may be prolonged immobilization, secondary, for example, to bone fractures or other traumas; if a muscle remains inactive for a long period of time, a breakdown of contractile proteins and a reduction in the number of myofibrils occur.

Generalized muscular atrophy can be part of a serious deterioration (starvation and cachexia). Therefore, it can be found in the context of severe hepatic and renal insufficiency, malignant tumors, severe burns and heart failure.

Localized muscle atrophy may be due to a muscle disease (myopathies) or to circulation defects (eg arteritis). Possible causes include Duchenne dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and spinal cord injuries.

Muscular atrophy is relatively frequent in diabetic neuropathy and can occur in association with painful conditions, such as arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Image taken from wikipedia.org

Possible Causes * of Muscular Atrophy

  • Achondroplasia
  • Arthritis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Arthrosis
  • Spinal Muscular Atrophy
  • Beriberi
  • Bursitis
  • Botulism
  • Liver Cirrhosis
  • Duchenne dystrophy
  • Slipped disc
  • Stroke
  • Heart failure
  • Kidney failure
  • Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
  • Myasthenia gravis
  • Diabetic neuropathy
  • Rheumatic polymyalgia
  • Polio
  • radiculopathy
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Syphilis
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Reye syndrome
  • Syringomyelia
  • Spina bifida
  • Cervical spondylosis
  • Spinal cord tumors
  • Burns