Brain-affecting disease can afflict anyone

There are many people afflicted with the two leading neurological diseases, Parkinson’s… There are many people afflicted with the two leading neurological diseases, Parkinson’s disease and tremor. There is a third brain-affecting disease, however, called dystonia, which many are unfamiliar with despite the disease’s serious nature.

In North America alone, more than 300,000 people are affected by dystonia.

Dystonia is a movement disorder that can affect a single muscle, the entire body and everything in between. Those with dystonia have involuntary muscle contraction on the involved area or areas, which produces a muscle twisting or other forms of abnormal postures in the muscles.

In a letter to The Pitt News, Heather A.S. Herrmann emphasized the importance of dystonia awareness.

“It affects people of every race, age and ethnicity,” Herrmann said. “It can affect the face, vocal cords, eyelids, neck, trunk, arms, legs or combination thereof.”

The onset of dystonia can happen at any stage in a person’s life. However, the later someone develops the disease, the more likely it is to be localized to a specific area. Dystonia can also be a result of a brain injury or stroke.

The National Institutes of Health explained that there are five main groups within dystonia.

Four of the five can involve the entire body, and the most common of those four is general dystonia. This variety typically starts affecting the patient between the ages of five and 16.

Another form is called focal dystonia, which causes localized movement to a specific part of the body.

A third type, multifocal dystonia, involves two or more unrelated body parts, such as both the right arm and the left leg. Segmental dystonia affects two or more adjacent parts of the body.

The fifth type is called hemidystonia and involves the arm and leg on the same side of the body.

Writer’s cramp is a mild form of dystonia. It most commonly happens when writing, but it can also occur by playing a musical instrument or even by typing.

Investigators at the National Institutes of Health believe that dystonia is caused by a defect in the part of the brain called the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia might not be able to process neurotransmitters controlling the muscles, which results in sporadic muscle movements.

There is no single treatment that significantly improves dystonia patients. More common medications are those that correct the balance in neurotransmitters to decrease the number of muscle spasms.

A great opportunity to learn more about dystonia is in an upcoming national showing of the movie “Twisted.”

This movie documents the story of a 17-year-old girl who developed dystonia after a severe car accident. The film then incorporates various other dystonia cases to get different perspectives of the neurological disease.

“Twisted” is scheduled to premiere on PBS at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30.