Some people with respiratory failure need a mechanical ventilator a machine that helps air get Physical and occupational therapy can help people adapt to permanent weakness and compensate for loss of function. Physical therapy can help people maintain and sometimes regain strength. As people age, the amount of muscle tissue and muscle strength tend to decrease.
These changes occur partly because older people may become less active but also because the production of the hormones that stimulate muscle development decreases. Thus, for older people, bed rest during an illness can have a devastating effect. Compared with younger people, older people start out with less muscle tissue and strength at the beginning of the illness and lose muscle tissue more quickly during the illness.
Drugs are another common cause of weakness in older people because older people take more drugs and are more susceptible to side effects of drugs including muscle damage and problems with nerves.
When evaluating older people who report weakness, doctors also focus on conditions that do not cause weakness but interfere with balance, coordination, vision, or mobility or that make movement painful such as arthritis.
Older people may mistakenly describe the effects of such conditions as weakness. Regardless of what is causing weakness, physical therapy can usually help older people function better.
True muscle weakness results only when one part of the pathway necessary for voluntary muscle movement from brain to muscles malfunctions. If weakness becomes severe over a few days or less or if people have any of the warning signs Warning signs Weakness refers to loss of muscle strength.
Often, doctors can determine whether the problem is true muscle weakness and can identify the cause based on the pattern of symptoms and results of the physical examination.
Physical therapy is usually helpful in maintaining strength no matter what the cause of weakness is. Merck and Co.
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The Manual was first published in as a service to the community. Learn more about our commitment to Global Medical Knowledge. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. Common Health Topics. Common causes Less common causes Fatigue. Warning signs When to see a doctor What the doctor does Testing. Essentials for Older People: Weakness.
Key Points. Test your knowledge. More Content. Weakness By Michael C. The brain. Through nerves from the spinal cord to the muscles called peripheral nerves. Across the connection between nerve and muscle called a neuromuscular junction.
Using the Brain to Move a Muscle Moving a muscle usually involves communication between the muscle and the brain through nerves. The sensory nerve pathway to the brain. The nerve carrying the impulse crosses to the opposite side at the base of the brain. The impulse travels out of the spinal cord along the length of the motor nerve. Causes differ depending on whether weakness is generalized or affects only specific muscles. Damage to nerves due to a severe illness or injury, such as severe or extensive burns.
In people with weakness, the following symptoms are cause for concern:. Weakness that becomes severe over a few days or less. Doctors ask people to describe in detail what they are experiencing as weakness. Doctors ask. When the weakness began. Doctors ask about past and current use of drugs, including alcohol and recreational drugs. The brain or spinal cord: If reflexes are very easy to trigger and are very strong. A complete blood cell count CBC.
Was This Page Helpful? Yes No. Muscular Dystrophy. What are the symptoms of peripheral nerve damage? What are the causes of peripheral neuropathy? How is peripheral neuropathy diagnosed? What treatments are available? How can I prevent neuropathy? What research is being done? Where can I get more information? Peripheral neuropathy refers to the many conditions that involve damage to the peripheral nervous system, the vast communication network that sends signals between the central nervous system the brain and spinal cord and all other parts of the body.
Peripheral nerves send many types of sensory information to the central nervous system CNS , such as a message that the feet are cold. They also carry signals from the CNS to the rest of the body. Best known are the signals to the muscles that tell them to contract, which is how we move, but there are different types of signals that help control everything from our heart and blood vessels, digestion, urination, sexual function, to our bones and immune system.
The peripheral nerves are like the cables that connect the different parts of a computer or connect the Internet. When they malfunction, complex functions can grind to a halt. Symptoms can range from mild to disabling and are rarely life-threatening.
The symptoms depend on the type of nerve fibers affected and the type and severity of damage. Symptoms may develop over days, weeks, or years. In some cases, the symptoms improve on their own and may not require advance d care. Unlike nerve cells in the central nervous system, peripheral nerve cells continue to grow throughout life. Some forms of neuropathy involve damage to only one nerve called mononeuropathy.
Neuropathy affecting two or more nerves in different areas is called multiple mononeuropathy or mononeuropathy multiplex. More often, many or most of the nerves are affected called polyneuropathy. Neuropathy is often misdiagnosed due to its complex array of symptoms. More than types of peripheral neuropathy have been identified, each with its own symptoms and prognosis. Symptoms vary depending on the type of nerves—motor, sensory, or autonomic—that are damaged. Most neuropathies affect all three types of nerve fibers to varying degrees; others primarily affect one or two types.
Doctors use terms such as predominantly motor neuropathy, predominantly sensory neuropathy, sensory-motor neuropathy, or autonomic neuropathy to describe different conditions. In severe cases, such neuropathies can spread upwards toward the central parts of the body.
In non-length dependent polyneuropathies, the symptoms can start more toward the torso, or are patchy. Motor nerve damage is most commonly associated with muscle weakness. Other symptoms include painful cramps, fasciculations uncontrolled muscle twitching visible under the skin and muscle shrinking. Muscular dystrophy describes a group of inherited diseases in which the muscles that control movement become progressively weaker and waste away, causing symptoms such as difficulty walking.
Read more on Better Health Channel website. Motor neurone disease is a condition that causes progressive weakness and paralysis of the muscles that allow people to move, breathe, swallow and speak.
Read more on Cerebral Palsy Alliance website. Read more on MND Australia website. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disorder of the hand caused by pressure on the median nerve as it runs through the wrist. Read more on WA Health website.
Muscular dystrophy MD is an umbrella term used to describe a group of over 30 genetic conditions that cause progressive, irreversible muscle weakness and wastage. MD is caused by mutations affecting various genes that code the proteins responsible for the structure and function of the muscles.
Read more on Ausmed Education website. Read more on Cochrane Australasian Centre website. Fundraising for research into finding a cause and cure for motor neurone disease. Neuropathic pain is caused by damage to the somatosensory nervous system. Find out more about diagnosis and management of this challenging condition.
Restless legs syndrome is common. While many patients are simply inconvenienced, others suffer greatly from wakefulness and disturbed sleep. Once the action potential has reached the end of an axon, the mediator is released. Neuromuscular junction is a place where the last motoneuron and the muscle cell meet. The binding of the mediator acetylcholine to the receptor brings about another action potential which spreads along the muscle cell membranes.
The central nervous system CNS is composed of the brain and the spinal cord. Different parts of the CNS are interconnected through ascending and descending pathways creating functional wholes. The peripheral nervous system is composed of 12 pairs of head nerves connected to the brain and of 31 pairs of spinal nerves attached to the spinal cord.
Sensoric nerves transfer information from body receptors to the CNS.
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