Involuntary movements. Diseases of the nervous system

Every healthy person is able to control his movements, that is, he can, at his will, slow or accelerate limb movements, change their amplitude and direction of movement. However, the situation changes dramatically if there are various disorders of the nervous system. In particular, if the process affects the area regulating motor activity, then involuntary movements appear. Let us consider the main motor disorders associated with this process.

Diseases of the human nervous system

The nervous system, which is made up of the central (head and spinal cord) and peripheral (nerves, nerve processes and endings) of the system, regulates all processes occurring in the human body. Violations in her work are manifested by a variety of pathologies affecting both the work of internal organs and systems, and higher nervous activity. This is because the nervous system is extremely branched, and each part is unique. Often, one of the symptoms of diseases of the nervous system are motor disorders, including involuntary movements. As a rule, the most common ones are:

• Tremor (trembling) - represents involuntary, rhythmic fluctuations of a part of a body (more often it is a head or hands);
• Hyperkinesis - increased muscular movements, differing from tremors of greater amplitude;
• Myoclonus - sudden, sudden involuntary contraction of muscle groups (startle), which grab the whole body, its upper part or arms.

Essential tremor

This type of tremor is one of the most common forms of involuntary movements. It can appear both in youth and in old age. Often the hereditary factor becomes decisive. This kind of involuntary movements is a postural tremor that appears when you change the position of one hand first, then two. It can intensify to the extent that it prevents writing, keeping small items in its hands. Most often, this occurs when agitation and after drinking alcohol. The process can capture the head, chin, tongue, as well as the trunk and legs. However, most often an essential tremor is a trembling of the hands. Treatment in most cases is not required. If the tremor has a pronounced character and interferes with the normal life of a person, as a rule, a neurologist appoints beta-blockers. If the excitement and emotions are a provoking factor causing hand trembling, treatment can consist of taking tranquilizers.

Parkinson's disease

Another common ailment, a sign of which becomes a pronounced impairment of motor functions, is Parkinson's disease. This pathology is associated with the gradual death of brain neurons that produce dopamine (a mediator that regulates movement and muscle tone). According to statistics, this disease affects every hundredth person who passed the sixty-year boundary. Men get sick more often than women. The causes of the ailment have not been studied in detail. For a person who has a diagnosis such as Parkinson's disease, treatment, unfortunately, is symptomatic and does not guarantee recovery.

As a rule, the first symptoms of an ailment often go unnoticed. As development develops, the dexterity of the hands decreases, the mimicry mends, a masklike face appears. Also there is a tremor of extremities, involuntary movements of the head, speech is broken, the ability to control their movements. Slow walking can be replaced by an uncontrollable run, which the patient is not able to stop on his own. In the future, imbalance and walking problems increase.

Treatment

With such a disease as Parkinson's disease, treatment is most often reduced to the use of drugs that slow the development of the disease. That is why it is so important to identify it in the early stages. When the first symptoms appear, when there is a chance to slow the destruction of brain neurons, it is necessary to seek the advice of a neurologist.

To date, the main drug that slows the pathological process, is "Levodofa." It is used in conjunction with several other groups of drugs, but, unfortunately, can only slow the progression of the disease. However, active research into the possibility of surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease is currently under way - transplanting cells that are capable of producing dopamine.

Chorea

Another disease, a sign of which are hyperkinesis (uncontrolled movements), is chorea. In its broadest sense, it is more likely to be called a symptom complex, since the causes that cause it can be very different. Chorea is manifested by involuntary movements of limbs, head and trunk. Language and facial muscles may also be involved. Often, these movements are compared with those who are crooked and dance. Characteristic is that during sleep all the symptoms completely disappear.

The causes of chorea

As already mentioned, involuntary movements with chorea can be caused by a number of unrelated causes. The most common factors are:

• Heredity - with many inherited genetic diseases, such as Konovalov-Wilson's disease, there is symptomatology of chorea;
• Cerebral palsy;
• Long-term use of drugs - it can be neuroleptics, antiemetics;
• Infectious diseases - often involuntary movements in children (small chorea) occur after streptococcal angina;
• Chronic insufficiency of cerebral blood supply;
• Inflammatory diseases of the brain (vasculitis);
• Hormonal disorders (in particular, with insufficient parathyroid function).

Treatment of chorea depends on the cause that caused it. It can be therapy of the underlying disease, cancellation of the drug or a decrease in its dose if the cause is overdose, as well as symptomatic treatment in cerebral palsy and cerebral blood supply deficiency. With the chorea of any etiology, B group vitamins and preparations that improve nutrition and stimulate brain function (neurotrophic, nootropic) are used.

Myoclonias

Another involuntary movement is a myoclonus. Most often, this phenomenon can be observed in yourself or others around you when you fall asleep. It also received the name "nocturnal jerks". As a rule, they are absolutely safe, but in some cases they are expressed to such an extent that there is a violation of sleep. Most often this happens when a person is relaxed and ready to fall asleep. Muscle contractions can provoke noise or other external factors, and the process of falling asleep can be significantly impaired. Usually myoclonic sleep does not need medical treatment.

The situation becomes much more serious if a person has myoclonic seizures or convulsions. As a rule, they are one of the signs of such a serious disease as epilepsy. Miklonicheskiy attack can cause a fall, during which there is a high risk of fractures or traumatic brain injury. The duration of the attack is 1-2 seconds, it starts abruptly and ends abruptly.

Myoclonic cramps are more often manifested by contractions of the muscles in the hands. In the early stages, only the patient himself notices them; over time, they are aggravated - a person drops objects, can not hold them in their hands. Most often, such attacks are observed a few hours after awakening. In case of untimely referral to specialists, the process is generalized, and tonic-clonic convulsions and unconsciousness are added to the convulsions in the limbs.

Hyperkinesia in children

Unintentional movements can affect both adults and children, while the latter are most typical of tick-shaped manifestations. Most often this is expressed in brief recurring contractions of individual groups of facial muscles. As a rule, such phenomena occur after overwork or excessive excitement of the child. Another frequent hyperkinesis in children is chorea. It is characterized by periodic twitching of the muscles of the head and shoulder girdle. The main reason is usually the stress borne by the child, which can be an insignificant event, from the perspective of an adult. That's why parents need to carefully consider the slightest manifestations of involuntary movements in their children.

As you can see, a healthy person is able to perform both voluntary and involuntary movements. However, if they start to affect the quality of life, a neurologist's consultation is necessary.