Myoclonus

Myoclonus






Myoclonus is a sudden muscle jerk caused involuntarily. Many people will experience sudden jerk movement before falling asleep. And getting sudden hiccups is an example for myoclonus. It is a neurological disorder but is usually harmless and is not a disease. It can be caused due to medications and if the underlying cause is treated the sudden neurological movement will stop.

Symptoms :

Individuals will experience sudden shock or jerky movement like spasms. Such symptoms will be for few seconds and occur suddenly without any notice. They are involuntary in nature and one cannot control the symptoms. It will be something like a shock. Often it will involve only specific part of the body but it can occur throughout the body. In rare cases, myoclonus may interfere with the quality life causing difficulty in speech and eating.

Causes :

The sudden jerk movement of myoclonus can be caused due to various factors. Though it is neurological problem still there are certain causes and types of myoclonus.

Physiological Type :

Getting jerk, hiccups, movement one makes before exactly the sleep starts and spasms one gets during anxiety or stress are examples of myoclonus originating from physical problem.

Essential Type :

Myoclonus of this type develops on its own, without any reason. Hence no apparent cause is available for this type. It is believed to be of hereditary origin.

Epileptic Type :

Epilepsy is the cause of this type of myoclonus exhibiting muscle jerk.

Secondary Type :

Underlying health condition can be the cause for this type of reaction. This is often seen in many people with myoclonus. Some of the medical issues that cause involuntary muscle jerk are head injury, Kidney Failure, drug poisoning, deprivation of oxygen, adverse reaction to medications, metabolic disorders and autoimmune disorders. Any of the above medical conditions can cause nervous problem like brain tumor, Stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disase and Dementia.

Diagnoses :

Your doctor will collect the entire medical history and the list of medications you are taking before taking decision about the treatment. Based on the individual’s health condition the doctor will request for EEG for checking the electrical charges in the brain. He may also conduct electromyography EMG for testing the electrical conductivity of muscles. If required, he may ask for magnetic resonance imaging test for ruling out structural problems caused by myoclonus.

Treatment :

If the exact underlying medical issue/cause is found out, then treating myoclonus becomes easy. Most of the cases, no treatment is required since nervous problems and symptoms like hiccups or jerky movement will resolve on its own. For severe cases or consistent jerky movement, your doctor may prescribe tranquilizers like clonazepam, anticonvulsant medicines like valporic acid, levetricetam or primidone. Most of them will have side effects.

Botox injection is given for treating unspecified forms of myoclonus. This can be effective solution if specific area is affected. This chemical can block the chemical release thus inhibiting involuntary muscle movement. Surgery is needed only if the underlying cause is brain tumor or any other serious problem in the spinal cord.

Myoclonus – Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Medications, Surgery

Myoclonus – Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Medications, Surgery

What is Myoclonus?

Myoclonus denotes a muscle jerk which is quick and involuntary. For instance, a type of myoclonus is hiccups as well as the abrupt jerks an individual has when dropping into sleep. There are types of myoclonus that happen in people who are healthy and very rarely present any problem.

More often, myoclonus is denoted as an indication of a disorder of the nervous system, for instance Epilepsy, or a reaction to a medication, as well as a metabolic disorder. Myoclonic jerking can develop in individuals with Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Myoclonic jerks usually occur in individuals with epilepsy, which is a disorder where the electrical activity in the brain becomes disorderly and leads to seizures.

Preferably, the primary cause needs to be treated in order to help control any symptoms of myoclonus. If the reason is unsolved or cannot be precisely treated, then management centers on decreasing any problems that myoclonus has with an individual’s daily activities.

Myoclonus Symptoms

Individuals with myoclonus frequently define the signs as “shakes”, “spasms” or “jerks” that are:

• Brief


• Sudden


• Shock-like


• Involuntary


• Localized in one area of the body or over the entire body


• Variable in frequency as well as intensity


• Often serious enough to inhibit talking, walking or eating

When an individual’s symptoms of myoclonus become persistent as well as frequent, it is time to talk with your primary care physician for correct diagnosis and management or further evaluation. The doctor will want you to define the symptoms of myoclonus in detail, especially what seems to cause these symptoms and how or when they leave. The doctor will probably also inquire about any history of:

• Any other problems with neurology


• Chemical or drug exposure


• Seizures


• Any other types of medical problems


• Members of family with epilepsy or a comparable problem

The doctor may attempt to cause your symptoms of myoclonus, so he/she can actually see what or how many muscle groups are involved as well as if there could be any other neurological anomalies which could transpire at the identical time.

Diagnosing the reason for myoclonus normally is a practice of elimination. In order to eliminate possible reasons, the physician can endorse the below listed types of tests:

Electroencephalography or EEG
Procedure which registers the electrical actions of the brain and can help to determine the area of the brain the myoclonus seems to begin in. EEGs take under about an hour and are painless. Electrodes which are small are attached to the head with either elastic cap or a paste. You will be asked to breathe deeply for some minutes to relax or to stare at a patterned panel. At stretches a flashing light may be shined in your eyes.

Electromyography or EMG
Test which measures the electrical expulsions which are produced in the muscles and can help to find the pattern of myoclonus. Thin wire electrodes are implanted into the muscles that the physician wishes to study. This can be a little uncomfortable, but the majority of individuals complete the test just fine. A device will record the electrical movement from the muscle while at rest as well as when contracted – such as while bending the arm. The signals will help to conclude if there is any injury to the muscle or the nerve which goes to the muscle. This test usually takes about an hour.

Magnetic resonance imaging or MRI
This is a scan which can be used to test for anything such as problems which are structural or tumors inside the skull, which can be creating the myoclonus symptoms. These scans use powerful magnets as well as radio waves to create thorough images of organs which are internal. This scan is very noisy but painless – but many people experience feelings of claustrophobia.

Laboratory tests
Your physician may also want to test urine as well as blood for evidence of:

• Autoimmune disease


• Metabolic imbalances


• Diabetes


• Liver or kidney disease


• Toxins or drugs

Myoclonus Causes

This problem could be triggered by an assortment of causal problems. Physicians frequently separate the kinds of myoclonus on what causes them, and this AIDS in determining treatment. The forms of myoclonus contain the following classifications.

You're reading Myoclonus – Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Medications, Surgery posted by minhhai2d, the information is for reference only.

Physiological Myoclonus
Normally occurs in healthy individuals and rarely need any treatment. Examples could be:

• Hiccups


• Infant with twitching muscle while sleeping or after eating


• Sleep starts

Essential Myoclonus
These occur on their own, normally without other problems as well as without being linked to any causal disease or disorder. The cause of these types of myoclonus is frequently unexplained or, in particular cases, hereditary.

Epileptic Myoclonus
This is a form of myoclonus which occurs as a portion of an epileptic condition. Jerking muscles may be the only symptom or can also be one of many.

Symptomatic or Secondary Myoclonus
This is a very common type of myoclonus. Jerking of the muscles happen as a consequence of a causal medical illness, such as:

• Spinal cord or head infection or injury


• Brain tumor


• Stroke


• Drug or chemical poisoning


• Liver or Kidney Failure


• Medication reaction


• Prolonged deprivation of oxygen


• Huntington’s disease


• Parkinson’s disease


• Alzheimer’s disease


• Problems with metabolism

Myoclonus Treatment

The treatment of myoclonus is more operative when an underlying reversible cause is uncovered—for example a toxin or medication which can be stopped or flushed from the body. The majority of time the cause which is underlying cannot be eliminated or cured, so then treatment is concentrated on easing the myoclonus symptoms, specifically when they are disabling. There aren’t any medications designed specifically for treating myoclonus, but physicians have used other medication used to treat other diseases to relieve the symptoms of myoclonic.

Myoclonus Medications

Medications which physicians commonly recommend for myoclonus consist of:

Anticonvulsants
Medications to manage epileptic seizures also been proven to be useful in decreasing symptoms of myoclonus. The common anticonvulsant medications used for myoclonus are levetiracetam (Keppra), primidone (Mysoline) and valproic acid (Depakene).

Tranquilizers
Clonazepam (Klonopin) is the drug most frequently used in combating myoclonus symptoms

Myoclonus Therapy

Botox or “botulinum toxin type A” injections can also be useful in the treating of a variety of sorts of myoclonus especially if just a single portion of the body is affected. Botulinum toxins blocks the chemical messenge release that normally triggers contractions of the muscle.

Myoclonus Surgery

If the myoclonus symptoms occur because of a lesion or tumor in the spinal cord or brain, surgery can be another option. Deep stimulation in the brain has been used in some individuals who have disorders which are inherited and are hard to treat.