cervical dystonia and Parkinson’s disease Archives - Pain Management Institute

Cervical dystonia (CD) is a chronic neurological movement disorder characterized by unusual postures of the neck. Although muscle contractions represent the most noticeable disease feature, associated signs such as pain are frequent and applicable participants to disability.

Treatments of cervical dystonia

There are wide range of cervical dystonia treatment is available. These will be determined by the sort and severity of the precise condition. The main choices are drugs, botulinum toxin and surgery. There is likewise other support available like physiotherapy.

Botulinum toxin injections

Botulinum toxin injections are used to lessen the extra muscle activity resulting from dystonia. Botulinum toxin is produced naturally through a bacterium known as Clostridium botulinum that’s also associated with producing botulism, a rare kind of food poisoning. However, even though botulinum toxin is especially toxic, when it is purified and used in small, managed doses, it may be used efficiently as cervical dystonia treatment to relax excessive muscle contraction.

The injection enables the botulinum toxin to be focused directly into the muscles suffering by dystonia. The toxin has an influence on the nerves at their junction with the muscles. It acts as a blocker stopping release of the chemical messenger acetylcholine that is accountable for making the muscle contract. As a result, the signals that would commonly be telling the muscle to contract are halted and the muscle spasms are reduced or eliminated.

Drugs

The symptoms of dystonia may be difficult to control and it can often make an effort to get the stability of medications right to achieve benefits for someone with dystonia. Important drugs used to offer alleviation from the symptoms of dystonia are;

Dopaminergic drugs
Anticholinergic drugs
GABA Agonis
Anti-convulsant

Selective denervation

Selective denervation (SD) is an operational cervical dystonia treatment that has been used for neck dystonia (spasmodic torticollis) for many years. It is a surgical treatment to cut the nerves regulating the overactive muscles which are causing the symptoms of dystonia. The intention of the operation is to introduce an everlasting paralysis to the muscles inflicting the problems.

Deep brain stimulation

Deep brain stimulation surgery (DBS) is powerful cervical dystonia treatment and can be appropriate for patients who lose their response to botulinum toxin, or have a form of cervical dystonia that is tough to treat with the injections, especially anterocollis. DBS involves the settlement of electrodes into the vicinity of the brain known as the globus pallidus on both sides. The electrodes are linked to stimulators which ship small electrical pulses to the brain. Although the exact mechanism isn’t always clear, the electric impulses appear to “reset” the brain and improve the dystonic movements.

For further information call us on 815.412.6166

There is a group of the nervous system in human bodies which deal with the body movements and send signals from the brain to different the body part. However, there are also some nervous system diseases which cause movement disorder. The movement disorder can be of various forms. The outcome of the disorder can be in abnormally increased movements of the body parts, or it can reduce the speed of the movements. Some common movement disorders are cervical dystonia and Parkinson’s disease. However, there is a lack of awareness of these diseases which is why the treatments of these diseases are also limited. Cervical dystonia is a disease in which the contraction of the muscle of neck twist the neck toward one side or it causes the head to move forward and backward on its own. The patient loses control of the movements of their neck. Not only this, but this disease also cause severe and unbearable pain in the neck. Parkinson’s disease is also linked with the nervous system of the human body. In this disease actually, the motor system of a human body gets affected. This disease actually impacts negatively on the cells present in the brain to produce dopamine.

Symptoms of the diseases

The cervical dystonia and Parkinson’s disease impact different parts of a human body and cause different movement disorder which is why the symptoms of these diseases also differ from one another. The symptoms of the cervical dystonia are eye muscle contraction, change in the voice quality and sound turns into whispering, repetitive movements due to cramps in hands and arms, movement of chin towards the shoulder, uncontrollable movement of the ear towards the shoulder, chin straight up, movement of chin downwards. The minimum age which is more susceptible to this disease is 30. It can also be genetic.

On the other hand, the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease do not occur suddenly. The symptoms start getting more prominent as the disease start getting worse. Only symptoms which appear at the early stage of the disease are tiredness and irritation. However, as the disease starts getting serious, the patient start having a controllable and constant tremor in the whole body of some specific parts such as feet, fingers especially forefinger and thumb, or in hands. This disease mostly reduces the speed of basic body movements like walking or leaving the bed. In worse condition, the patient’s vision also gets affected. The symptoms of the disease keep changing or getting prominent at every stage.

Suggested treatment

For decades, there were no proper treatments for cervical dystonia and Parkinson’s disease. Doctors use to control severe pain through medication. However, it’s most appropriate and effective treatment has been found out in the form of Botox. During the treatment, doctors inject Botulinum toxin in the body or in the damaged part of the body to control the movements.

To get further information please contact the specialist and consultants for pain management. Please call on 815-412-6174.

All Posts Tagged: cervical dystonia and Parkinson’s disease

TREATMENT STRATEGIES FOR CERVICAL DYSTONIA