Cerebral palsy (CP) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are neuromuscular disorders characterized by muscle weakness. Weakness in CP has neural and non-neural components, whereas in DMD, weakness can be considered as a predominantly non-neural problem. Despite the different underlying causes, weakness is a constraint for the central nervous system when controlling gait. CP demonstrates decrea...

Overlap myositis (OM) associated with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a relatively uncommon disorder. It more difficult to detect OM when patient had not been previously diagnosed SS. We report case of SS that initially presented dysphagia followed by proximal weakness. If muscle weakness preceded dysphagia, the possibility connective-tissue disease should be considered.

INTRODUCTION The aim of this observational, cross-sectional study was to quantify the potential presence of muscle weakness among patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). The influence of gender, treatment intensity and disease duration on muscle strength and disease progression was also assessed. METHODS Muscle strength was tested in 8 muscle groups by manual muscle testing and by ...

Sepsis is associated with impaired muscle function but the role of glucocorticoids in sepsis-induced muscle weakness is not known. We tested the role of glucocorticoids in sepsis-induced muscle weakness by treating septic rats with the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU38486. In addition, normal rats were treated with dexamethasone to further examine the role of glucocorticoids in the regula...

spinal muscular atrophy (sma) is a genetic disorder which affect nervous system and is characterized with progressive distal motor neuron weakness. the survival motor neuron (smn) protein level reduces in patients with sma. two different genes code survival motor neuron protein in human genome. skeletal and intercostal muscles denervation lead to weakness, hypotony, hyporeflexia, respiratory fa...

Pompe disease is an autosomal-recessive lysosomal storage disorder characterized by progressive myopathy with proximal muscle weakness, respiratory muscle dysfunction, and cardiomyopathy (in infants only). In patients with juvenile or adult disease onset, respiratory muscle weakness may decline more rapidly than overall neurological disability. Sleep-disordered breathing, daytime hypercapnia, a...

MUSCLE WEAKNESS IN PERSONS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SEPTEMBER 2010 LINDA H. CHUNG, B.S., UNIVERSITY OF OREGON M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D. Candidate, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Jane A. Kent-Braun Skeletal muscle weakness is a problem for people living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Alterations in the central nervous system may be the primary sour...

Muscle weakness associated with aging implicates central neural degeneration. However, role of the primary motor cortex (M1) is poorly understood, despite evidence that gains in strength in younger adults are associated with its adaptations. We investigated whether weakness of biceps brachii in aging analogously relates to processes in M1. We enrolled 20 young (22.6 ± 0.87 yr) and 28 old (74.79...

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a devastating and progressive neurological disorder in which degeneration of motor neurones results in weakness and wasting of the dependent muscles. The prevalence of MND is approximately five per 100 000 and approximately 30% of patients have primary bulbar symptoms. Half of the patients die within 36 months of experiencing the first symptom. Presentation with v...

potentials and twitch force were measured in muscle strips obtained from patients and controls. Of the 36 patients, 25 presented with chronic muscle weakness of varying degrees, up to wheelchair-dependence. The weakness was associated with intracellular Na overload and edema. Older patients revealed a vacuolar myopathy or a progressive muscular dystrophy. Weakness, intracellular Na overload and...