Nerve and Muscle Disease Flashcards
Describe the basic route for the movement of a muscle
Upper Motor Neuron Anterior Horn Cell Lower Motor Neuron NMJ ACh release ACh receptor Muscle stimulated
What are these disorders, disorders of?
Muscle
Neuromuscular junction
Peripheral nerve
Anterior horn cell
What is muscle?
An intricate machine designed to convert chemical energy to mechanical energy
What are the components of the process for chemical energy -> mechanical energy
Excitation-contraction coupling
The contractile mechanism
Structural components
The energy system
What is the presentation of muscle disease?
- Weakness of skeletal muscle
- Short of breath (respiratory muscle)
- Cardiomyopathy
- Poor suck/ feeding/ Failure To Thrive/ Floppy
- Cramp, pain
- Myoglobinuria
- Wasting/ hypertrophy
- Motor weakness… NOT sensory
Explain why myoglobinuria occurs and what the results of it are
Muscles break down
Myglobin in blood
Filtered by kidneys
Makes urine look like coca cola
Large molecule so can clog kidneys up in large amounts -> renal failure
How are muscle diseases classified?
- Muscular dystrophies
- Channelopathies
- Metabolic muscle disease
- Inflammatory Muscle disease
- Congenital myopathies
What parts can fail in muscle disease
Dystrophin Actin Sarcoglycan complex Systroglycan complex Laminin
Name the muscular dystrophies
Duchenne's MD Becker's MD Facioscapulohumeral MD Myotonic Dystrophy Limb-Girdle MD
What is Duchenne’s MD?
X linked
No functional muscular dystrophin produced
Poor motor milestones
(arent walking when young, wheelchair by teens)
Investigations:
CK, Genetics, Muscle biopsy
What is Becker’s MD?
Allelic with DMD
Cardiomyopathy
Some dystrophin produced so less severe than DMD
What is Facioscapulohumeral MD?
Autosomal dominant
Affects the skeletal muscles of the face, scapula and upper arms initially
Usually present in teens
What is myotonic dystrophy?
Autosomal dominant trinucleotide repeat disorder
Multisystem disorder characterised by weakness and myotonia
myotonia = hard to relax muscles once contracted
What is limb-girdle MD?
Large family of autosomal dominant and recessive disorders affecting primaryily the limb girdles
What are channelopathies?
Disorders of Ca, Na and Cl channels
How are channelopathies divided?
Periodic paralysis:
- Familial hypokalemic periodic paralysis
- Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis
Partial Paralysis:
- Paramyotonia congenita
- Myotonia congenita
What is the difference between paramyotonia congenita and myotonia congenita?
Myotonia = the more you move the easier it gets
Paramyotonia = the more you move the harder it gets
What is metabolic muscle disease?
Muscle isnt supplied very well with what it needs to function.
Muscle breakdown during exercise is therefore excessive
Myogobinuria can cause renal failure
How can someone with metabolic muscle disease present?
Muscle pain (particularly after exercise) which is unusually excessive
Coca Cola urine
Renal failure
How is metabolic muscle disease divided?
Disorders of carbohydrate metabolism
DIsorders of lipid metabolism
Mitochondrial myopathies/ cytopathies
How can a patient get around disorders of carbohydrate metabolism?
Push through during exercise.
After 10-15 mins start to break down fat stores so will get “second wind”