Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0026838 (spasticity)
 6,471 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Rehabilitation services for the severely brain injured are often inadequate and one of the chief factors responsible is undue emphasis on the contribution of physical disability with scant attention to the serious emotional and intellectual handicaps incurred. Weakness, spasticity and dysphasis tend to recover eventually to a variable extent but mental handicap is often the cause of serious and lasting disablement. For a determination of the outcome of severe brain injury in terms of its effect on daily living, the relation between physical disability, mental handicap and social reintegration has been assessed quantitatively. Three assessment scales have been constructed and used in a study of 58 severely brain damaged patients. This revealed that the duration of post-traumatic amnesia correlates highly with the degree of social, mental and physical disability incurred. Daily living was affected primarily by impairment of intellect and personality and, to a lesser extent, by physical incapacity, but only rarely by the developments of symptoms of mental illness. Using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, the time course of cognitive recovery was also assessed. Recovery curves and the relation of cognitive impairment to social and physical handicap will be demonstrated.
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PMID:Assessment of the psychosocial outcome after severe head injury. 104 90

Theories on "Coping" try to explain which resources people use to master crises and conflict situations. Reactions to challenges of life are considered as "coping strategies". In psychosomatic research, the notion of "coping" serves to describe how patients can handle physical or mental illness. Myatrophic (or amyothrophic) lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare chronic progressive disease of the nervous system with a gradual loss of motor neurons, resulting in muscular atrophy, weakness and spasticity. Since the etiology is unknown and no curative treatment available, most patients die from respiratory failure within a few years. In a follow-up study on physical disability, medical care and social support in 21 patients with advanced ALS, we tried to address the question how patients get along with such a threatening condition. After semi-standardized clinical interviews with patients and close relatives, two investigators gave independent descriptions of reported or observed "coping strategies" (rated as "not at all-barely-possibly-probably-very probably present"). Considering 17 patients assessed by both raters, significant agreement (Kendall's W) was achieved in three patients only. A comparison of aggregated answers (chi 2-Test) revealed different response sets, since one rater tended to choose extreme scale points, while the other preferred undecided answers. Differences of mean scores were observed in 8 out of 21 items, while significant correlations between investigators were obtained in another 8, including, though, only 2 of those 5 items which both had rated as "probably present" in no less than 50% of the patient sample ("Dejection & Flight-Brooding-Keeping the Situation Open-Distraction-Self-Isolation").(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Assessment of "coping with disease" in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): on the use of an interviewer assessment rating scale]. 223 71

Despite decades of aggressive research into the cause and cure of multiple sclerosis (MS), a direct management strategy remains lacking. As research continues, patients who strive for an improved quality of life may attain it through the improved management of symptoms. Symptoms occur in MS as a consequence of loss of myelin (primary symptoms), as the result of primary symptoms (secondary symptoms), and because of psychological dysfunction associated with MS (tertiary symptoms). This paper emphasizes the recent developments in the management of primary symptoms including visual loss, weakness, spasticity, urinary and sexual dysfunction, and fatigue. The adjective multiple emphasizes the numerous potential symptoms of MS. It is through their management that people with MS may lead happier, more productive lives until a cause and cure are found.
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PMID:Symptomatic therapy of multiple sclerosis. 808 16

Common thyroid and parathyroid disorders present with reversible neurologic signs and symptoms affecting the central and peripheral nervous system, musculature, and mental function. Patients with thyrotoxicosis may have myopathy, spasticity, seizures, and multiple psychiatric symptoms. A deficiency of thyroid hormone also causes muscle weakness and may be accompanied by reversible muscle hypertrophy or movement disorders. The chronic hypercalcemia that develops secondary to hyperparathyroidism produces many psychiatric and cognitive symptoms, as well as a reversible myopathy. Calcium deficiency leads to neuromuscular irritability, paresthesias, and tetany. Psychiatric disorders are also common in this disorder.
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PMID:Neurologic complications of thyroid and parathyroid disease. 841 21

Mutations in the MECP2 (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2) gene are known to cause Rett syndrome, a well-known and clinically defined neurodevelopmental disorder. Rett syndrome occurs almost exclusively in females and for a long time was thought to be an X-linked dominant condition lethal in hemizygous males. Since the discovery of the MECP2 gene as the cause of Rett syndrome in 1999, MECP2 mutations have, however, also been reported in males. These males phenotypically have classical Rett syndrome when the mutation arises as somatic mosaicism or when they have an extra X chromosome. In all other cases, males with MECP2 mutations show diverse phenotypes different from classical Rett syndrome. The spectrum ranges from severe congenital encephalopathy, mental retardation with various neurological symptoms, occasionally in association with psychiatric illness, to mild mental retardation only. We present a 21-year-old male with severe mental retardation, spastic tetraplegia, dystonia, apraxia and neurogenic scoliosis. A history of early hypotonia evolving into severe spasticity, slowing of head growth, breathing irregularities and good visual interactive behaviour were highly suggestive of Rett syndrome. He has a de novo missense mutation in exon 3 of the MECP2 gene (P225L). The clinical spectrum and molecular findings in males with MECP2 mutations are reviewed.
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PMID:Neurodevelopmental disorders in males related to the gene causing Rett syndrome in females (MECP2). 1261 69

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) and Laurence-Moon syndrome (LMS) have a similar phenotype, which includes retinal dystrophy, obesity, and hypogenitalism. They are differentiated by the presence of spasticity and the absence of polydactyly in LMS. The aims of this study were to describe the epidemiology of BBS and LMS, further define the phenotype, and examine genotype-phenotype correlation. The study involved 46 patients (26 males, 20 females) from 26 families, with a median age of 44 years (range 1-68 years). Assessments were performed in 1986, 1993, and 2001 and included neurological assessments, anthropometric measurements, and clinical photographs to assess dysmorphic features. The phenotype was highly variable within and between families. Impaired co-ordination and ataxia occurred in 86% (18/21). Thirty percent (14/46) met criteria for psychiatric illness; other medical problems included cholecystectomy in 37% (17/46) and asthma in 28% (13/46). Dysmorphic features included brachycephaly, large ears, and short, narrow palpebral fissures. There was no apparent correlation of clinical or dysmorphic features with genotype. Two patients were diagnosed clinically as LMS but both had mutations in a BBS gene. The features in this population do not support the notion that BBS and LMS are distinct. The lack of a genotype-phenotype correlation implies that BBS proteins interact and are necessary for the development of many organs.
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PMID:Clinical and genetic epidemiology of Bardet-Biedl syndrome in Newfoundland: a 22-year prospective, population-based, cohort study. 1563 13

In this article, literature data on complications after spinal cord injuries and their influence on the efficiency of rehabilitation are analyzed. The spinal cord injury is associated with physical and psychological disorder that causes disability and requires intensive treatment. Authors in their articles indicate that many people after spinal cord injuries have complications. The most common complications are: skin breakdown, urinary tract infection, pulmonary complications, spasticity, pain, autonomic dysreflexia, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and fractures, heterotopic ossification, deep vein thrombosis. These complications make patients' rehabilitation more difficult and limit their self-care independence, and the treatment of such complications is very expensive.
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PMID:[Complications after spinal cord injuries and their influence on the effectiveness of rehabilitation]. 1717 87

The present investigation aimed to provide an objective narrative review of the existing literature pertaining to the benefits and harms of marijuana use for the treatment of the most common medical and psychological conditions for which it has been allowed at the state level. Common medical conditions for which marijuana is allowed (i.e., those conditions shared by at least 80 percent of medical marijuana states) were identified as: Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cachexia/wasting syndrome, cancer, Crohn's disease, epilepsy and seizures, glaucoma, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, multiple sclerosis and muscle spasticity, severe and chronic pain, and severe nausea. Post-traumatic stress disorder was also included in the review, as it is the sole psychological disorder for which medical marijuana has been allowed. Studies for this narrative review were included based on a literature search in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. Findings indicate that, for the majority of these conditions, there is insufficient evidence to support the recommendation of medical marijuana at this time. A significant amount of rigorous research is needed to definitively ascertain the potential implications of marijuana for these conditions. It is important for such work to not only examine the effects of smoked marijuana preparations, but also to compare its safety, tolerability, and efficacy in relation to existing pharmacological treatments.
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PMID:Narrative review of the safety and efficacy of marijuana for the treatment of commonly state-approved medical and psychiatric disorders. 2589 76