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

Dantrolene sodium or dantrolene1 is 1([5-(nitrophenyl)furfurylidend] amino) hydantoin sodium hydrate. It is indicated for use in chronic disorders characterised by skeletal muscle spasticity, such as spinal cord injury, stroke, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. Dantrolene is believed to act directly on the contractile mechanism of skeletal muscle to decrease the force of contraction in the absence of any demonstrated effects on neural pathways, on the neuromuscular junction, or on the excitable properties of the muscle fibre membranes. Controlled trials have demonstrated that dantrolene is superior to placebo in adults or children with spasticity from various causes, as evidenced by clinical assessments of disability and daily activities, and by muscle and reflex responses to mechanical and electrical stimulation. It is somewhat less effective in patients with multiple sclerosis than in those with spasticity from other causes. There has been a general clinical impression in controlled trials that dantrolene caused less sedation than would have been expected from therapeutically comparable doses of diazepam. In 2 controlled trials, there was no significant difference between dantrolene and diazepam in terms of reductions in spasticity, clonus, and hyperreflexia, but side-effects such as drowsiness and inco-ordination occurred significantly more frequently on diazepam. Long-term studies have indicated continuing benefit for patients taking dantrolene, though the incidence of side-effects has often been high and there has been a suggestion of exacerbation of seizures in children with cerebral palsy. Dantrolene may be of value in the medical treatment of spasm of the external urethral sphincter due to neurological and non-neurological disease, and animal studies suggest a potential use in the management of malignant hyperpyrexia. Chemical evidence of liver dysfunction may occur in 0.7 to 1% of patients on long-term treatment with dantrolene, with symptomatic hepatitis in 0.35 to 0.5% and fatal hepatitis in 0.1 to 0.2%. The drug commonly causes transient drowsiness, dizziness, weakness, general malaise, fatigue and diarrhoea at the start of therapy. Muscle weakness may be the principal limiting side-effect in ambulant patients, particularly in those with multiple sclerosis, and therapy could be hazardous in patients with pre-existing bulbar or respiratory weakness. The dosage of dantrolene has been fixed in most controlled trials, though long-term studies have indicated the need for individualisation of dosage. The initial dose is usually 25mg once daily, increasing to 25mg two, three or four times daily, and then by increments of 25mg up to as high as 100mg two, three or four times daily. The lowest dose compatible with optimal response is recommended.
 ...
PMID:Dantrolene sodium: a review of its pharmacological properties and therapeutic efficacy in spasticity. 31 89

The effect of a new peripherally acting muscle relaxant drug Dantrium, on spasticity tested on 11 hemiplegic patients. The effect was evaluated both with regular clinical examination and with electromyographic technique. The latter concerned a quantitative analysis of the patients' voluntary control of fine neuromuscular activity both with and without the drug. The results indicated that spasticity was initially markedly reduced in the majority of the patients without, however, meaningfully increasing the daily-living functions of the patients. After a few months, the medication could be discontinued without any immediate increase in the spasticity. No severe side-effects were noted. In some cases, the medication had to be discontinued due to marked tiredness. Electromyographically, it was found that the ability of the patients to control fine neuromuscular activity with the paretic muscles was increased significantly with Dantrium, indicating that the reduction of the spasticity increased the ability for fine control of the muscles.
 ...
PMID:The effect of dantrium on spasticity of hemiplegic patients. 113 Jan 70

Pharmacotherapy plays an important part in the overall management of patients with multiple sclerosis. Most therapies directed at altering the natural history of the underlying disease process are only partially effective or are controversial or experimental. However, many effective symptomatic therapies are available to the clinician. The action and uses of corticosteroids in multiple sclerosis are discussed, and approaches to the treatment of spasticity, paroxysmal disorders, bladder dysfunction, cerebellar ataxia, neurobehavioral manifestations, fatigue, and acute and chronic pain in patients with multiple sclerosis are examined.
 ...
PMID:Pharmacotherapy of multiple sclerosis: current status. 151 15

In 1984, researchers analyzed data on 231 18-45 year old women with a spinal cord injury who underwent initial rehabilitation at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado to examine sexual issues. More than 50% of the women reported that health workers did not provide them sufficient sexuality information during rehabilitation, but those who underwent rehabilitation after 1977 were more satisfied with it than those before 1977. They tended to be satisfied with the care they received from their physicians after the injury. Most women were comfortable talking about sexuality with family, friends, and/or other women with spinal cord injuries. Some women were concerned with increases in vaginal discharges (53%) and perspiration (27%) after the injury. Clinicians must realize that the needs of women with spinal cord injuries are different than those of men. Spasticity during sexual relations, pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period troubled some women, e.g., it interfered with sexual intercourse in 21% of the women. Yet 2 newborns were addicted to valium which is used to control spasticity. Other issues were self-confidence and lack of spontaneity. Nevertheless 69% of all women were satisfied with sexual experiences. 60% of the women had amenorrhea after their injury and the mean time for menses resumption was 5 months. The preinjury pregnancy rate was 1.3/person compared with only .34 after the injury. Women with incomplete paraplegia had a higher postinjury pregnancy rate than those with complete quadriplegia (.63 vs. .15; p.001). 50% of the 47 women who had full-term infants delivered vaginally. 49% did not use any anesthesia. Pregnancy complications and complications during labor and delivery were bladder and bowel problems, autonomic hyperreflexia, decubitus ulcers, urinary tract infections, edema, anemia, spotting, fatigue, cardiac irregularity, and preeclampsia.
 ...
PMID:Sexual issues of women with spinal cord injuries. 163 Aug 47

Established post-traumatic spinal cord injuries can serve as an 'experimental model' in which trauma has partially separated the 'spinal neuronal pool' from supraspinal influence. Our findings show that: (1) when the muscle is deprived of upper motor neuron activity, fatigue resistance is diminished and external, electrically induced daily contractions will restore the level of fatigue resistance close to that of muscles in healthy, active subjects; (2) the spinal interneuron network, when completely deprived of brain influence, is a 'spinal reflex centre' with a relatively restricted and low excitability level; and (3) the 'discomplete spinal cord injury' model illustrates that spasticity is of supra-segmental origin and that there are two basic features of brain motor control of the spinal interneuron system: the command to restrict interneuronal pool activity and the command to activate the interneuronal network. Moreover, I have described the modifiability of fatigue resistance, locomotor patterns and different alternatives in the neurocontrol of motor activity, depending on the kind and degree of residual brain influence. Such significant modifiability can be thought of as plasticity of the neuromuscular system and impaired control of the nervous system.
 ...
PMID:Model for the study of plasticity of the human nervous system: features of residual spinal cord motor activity resulting from established post-traumatic injury. 305 31

Multiple sclerosis patients with motor involvement of the lower extremities and the trunk often experience exertional dyspnea and generalized or leg fatigue on walking, and their walking performance is reduced. It has recently been suggested that a high energy cost of walking (Cw) may be an important contributing factor to the observed dyspnea and fatigue. The purpose of this study was to determine which factors influence Cw. Clinical tests were used to assess the major alterations of the motor system. Thirty-three patients (mean age 41 years, mean maximal speed 2.8 km/h, range 1.2 to 6.2 km/h) in a stable phase of their disease were examined. Cost of walking (mean +/- SE) at 1.8 km/h was 0.287 +/- 0.018 ml 02.kg-1.m-1 (normal value 0.163 +/- 0.007, p less than 0.001). A multivariate regression analysis showed that Cw was significantly related to spasticity of the lower extremities, whereas lower extremity and truncal weakness did not contribute to the observed high Cw.
 ...
PMID:Increased energy cost of walking in multiple sclerosis: effect of spasticity, ataxia, and weakness. 317 52

We describe two patients with methylmalonic aciduria and homocystinuria (Cbl C). The disorder was not diagnosed in patient 1 until 4 1/2 years of age; he had a history of fatigue, anorexia, delirium, and spasticity. Moderate megaloblastic bone marrow changes were observed, and there was hyperreflexia of the lower limbs. His condition improved clinically with hydroxycobalamin therapy. Patient 2 was hospitalized at 6 weeks of age because of lethargy and poor feeding. She was found to have macrocytosis. Despite an initial good clinical response to hydroxycobalamin, she developed a striking pigmentary retinopathy. Methylmalonic aciduria persisted in both patients, and homocystinuria persisted in patient 1 despite therapy. The diagnosis of Cbl C disease has been confirmed in both patients by biochemical studies of cultured fibroblasts, including complementation studies. The differences in age of onset and clinical findings together with the similar biochemical findings in these two patients demonstrate the heterogeneity of phenotypic expression in patients with apparently identical abnormalities of vitamin B12 metabolism.
 ...
PMID:Clinical heterogeneity in cobalamin C variant of combined homocystinuria and methylmalonic aciduria. 395 Aug 20

The recruitment order of motor units in the tibialis anterior muscle upon fatigue of tonic voluntary contraction was studied in 20 patients with severe spastic paraparesis. An electromyographic technique for secure identification of single motor units was used. Before fatigue the recruitment order is stable and low-frequency units are recruited before high-frequency units; this recruitment pattern agrees with that in normal voluntary activity. When fatigue appears, however, the recruitment order becomes indefinite and high-frequency units can be recruited before low-frequency units; this recruitment pattern agrees with that in normal phasic voluntary activity. Finally, all voluntary activation power disappears, even in the case of units which have never been active. Contraction ability and original recruitment order are restored upon rest but also upon tonic reflex support of the voluntary drive. Whether the fatigue reaction may be due to insufficient gamma motoneurone innervation and whether it is related to spasticity are discussed. The practical physiotherapeutic implications are reviewed.
 ...
PMID:Disturbances in the voluntary recruitment order of anterior tibial motor units in spastic paraparesis upon fatigue. 436 Mar 99

A questionnaire study on sexual problems occurring with multiple sclerosis (MS) was carried out with 217 patients who had previously participated in the University of Washington Multiple Sclerosis Project. More than one-half of the participating subjects were ambulatory without aids and nearly 75% did not use a wheelchair. Sexual dysfunction was reported by 56% of the women and 75% of the men. Among the women, the most commonly occurring sexual symptoms (in decreasing order of frequency) were fatigue, decreased sensation, decreased libido, decreased frequency or loss of orgasm and difficulty with arousal. Men reported the most common problem was erectile dysfunction, followed by decreased sensation, fatigue, decreased libido, and orgasmic dysfunction. Although loss of mobility, weakness and depression are not significantly associated with sexual dysfunction, spasticity and bladder dysfunction appear to be associated. However, even where these symptoms were absent, sexual dysfunction was perceived in at least 50% of the cases. The data indicate that sexual dysfunction can be anticipated in at least 50% of the women and about 75% of the men affected by MS, regardless of mobility level. It is most likely to occur in patients with spasticity and bladder dysfunction.
 ...
PMID:Sexual dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. 670 86

A double-blind trial with two parallel groups was carried out to compare the antispastic effect and tolerability of a new muscle relaxant, tizanidine (DS 103-282), with those of baclofen in the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis. Twenty-one hospitalized patients with stable spasticity participated in the 6-week trial. Eleven received tizanidine and 10 baclofen in gradually increasing daily doses. The optimal daily dose of tizanidine was between 8 and 36 mg and that of baclofen between 10 and 80 mg. Overall spastic state, spasms and clonus were similarly improved with both medications. In contrast, muscle strength, bladder function and the activities of daily living were more improved on tizanidine than on baclofen. Tiredness was the most frequent side-effect on tizanidine and muscle weakness on baclofen. The laboratory tests did not show any pathological changes with either medication. According to these results, tizanidine provides a new therapeutic alternative in the treatment of spasticity.
 ...
PMID:A double-blind comparative trial of new muscle relaxant, tizanidine (DS 103-282), and baclofen in the treatment of chronic spasticity in multiple sclerosis. 701 49


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>