There are more than 650 voluntary muscles or skeletal muscles in your body. These muscles allow you to walk, speak, blink and eat. Neuromuscular disorders affect your ability to control these muscles.
Neurons (nerve cells) that help the brain control voluntary muscles become damaged or even die, resulting in weakness or atrophy. Neuromuscular disorders can affect peripheral nerves, skeletal muscles or the best neuromuscular specialist in South Mumbai (where nerves and muscles connect).
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): This disease results in the loss of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Muscle weakness causes problems with movement and speech. Eventually, ALS can also lead to problems swallowing and breathing.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT disease): This group of diseases is inherited. Early symptoms include weakness in the lower limbs/feet and arms. CMT progresses slowly and may not affect a person's life expectancy.
Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP): This disease causes weakness in the extremities (hands/feet). It is caused by autoimmune diseases that damage the insulation (myelin sheath) surrounding peripheral nerves.
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS): This disease also affects the myelin sheath. Symptoms and progression vary from person to person, but it usually starts with weakness in the legs and quickly spreads to the rest of the body. As with CIDP, the cause is most likely the immune system attacking the peripheral nervous system.
Lambert-Eaton syndrome: This autoimmune disorder causes weakness and fatigue in the muscles of the arms and legs. It is caused by antibodies that damage voltage-gated calcium channels at the best neuromuscular specialist in South Mumbai.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS): This disease is also caused by the immune system attacking the myelin sheath of peripheral nerves. It affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. In people with multiple sclerosis, attacks lead to either a progression of symptoms or periods without new symptoms (stabilization).
Myasthenia gravis: This autoimmune disease is caused by damage to muscle receptors. It causes muscle weakness throughout the body. Symptoms include weakness in the arms/legs, eye and vision problems, speech and eating problems.
Peripheral neuropathy: This group of diseases affects nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. It causes weakness, pain and numbness in the extremities (arms, legs, hands, feet, face, mouth, etc.).
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA): This genetically inherited group of diseases causes symptoms such as hypotonia (reduced muscle tone) in the arms/legs, feeding and breathing problems. Most forms start in infancy/childhood, but some also start in adulthood.
The symptoms of a neuromuscular disorder depend on what type of disorder you have. The same goes for the severity of these symptoms. One person may have very mild symptoms, while another person may have life-threatening symptoms.
Similarly, the onset of symptoms can range from infancy to adulthood. The progression of symptoms can be slow, rapid and even change over time.
Symptoms may include
The cause of best neuromuscular specialist in South Mumbai depends on the specific disease.
Some, such as ALS, have no known cause. Others, such as CIDP and MS, are caused by autoimmune problems and therefore what triggers the immune response.
Others, such as SMA and PMT, can be inherited or caused by gene mutations that occur spontaneously during reproduction.
Additional risk factors may include:
To diagnose a neuromuscular disorder, your doctor or healthcare professional will probably first check your reflexes and look for signs such as loss of muscle tone (atrophy). After that, the following tests can help with the diagnosis:
Neuromuscular disorders cannot be cured. Instead, treatments are prescribed to relieve symptoms and slow the worsening of the disease.
Medications may include:
Other treatments include
Every best neuromuscular specialist in South Mumbai and every person is unique. Some disorders may cause mild symptoms that do not progress. Others can progress rapidly and become debilitating or even life-threatening.
The good news is that therapy can slow the progression of some disorders. Therapy can also help with motor function and the performance of daily tasks.
Researchers are also looking for new treatments to improve outcomes, such as using the drugs rasagiline, tirasemtiv and mexiletine as a reliable source for treating ALS, or using bone marrow transplants to treat mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalomyopathy.
Yes. Children can develop neuromuscular disorders, the most common of which is Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Other common disorders in children include SMA, myotonic dystrophy (a type of muscular dystrophy) and CMT disease. These disorders are often genetic, so children are born with them.
Neuromuscular disorders can affect breathing in some people. You may first notice shortness of breath at night or when lying down. The three main breathing problems associated with best neuromuscular specialist in South Mumbai are nocturnal hypoventilation, obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.
Currently, researchers cannot establish a reliable link between neuromuscular disease and the COVID-19 vaccine. In a study by Reliable Source, eight people developed neuromuscular disorders, including GEB, a few weeks after vaccination. More research is needed to determine whether there is a link or whether this is a coincidence.
Researchers note that some people with best neuromuscular specialist in South Mumbai disorders may experience certain problems associated with COVID-19. For example, people who take medicines that suppress the immune system may be at higher risk of the disease. And after the disease, breathing may become more difficult for those who already have respiratory problems.
However, the researchers note that the increased risk of COVID-19 and serious complications largely depends on
