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Summary
Movement disorders are neurologic conditions that cause problems with movement, such as
- Increased movement that can be voluntary (intentional) or involuntary (unintended)
- Decreased or slow voluntary movement
There are many different movement disorders. Some of the more common types include
- Ataxia, the loss of muscle coordination
- Dystonia, in which involuntary contractions of your muscles cause twisting and repetitive movements. The movements can be painful.
- Huntington's disease, an inherited disease that causes nerve cells in certain parts of the brain to waste away. This includes the nerve cells that help to control voluntary movement.
- Parkinson's disease, which is disorder that slowly gets worse over time. It causes tremors, slowness of movement, and trouble walking.
- Tourette syndrome, a condition which causes people to make sudden twitches, movements, or sounds (tics)
- Tremor and essential tremor, which cause involuntary trembling or shaking movements. The movements may be in one or more parts of your body.
Causes of movement disorders include
- Genetics
- Infections
- Medicines
- Damage to the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves
- Metabolic disorders
- Stroke and vascular diseases
- Toxins
Treatment varies by disorder. Medicines can cure some disorders. Others get better when an underlying disease is treated. Often, however, there is no cure. In that case, the goal of treatment is to improve symptoms and relieve pain.
Diagnosis and Tests
- Electromyography (EMG) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Treatments and Therapies
- Use of Botulinum Neurotoxin for the Treatment of Movement Disorders (American Academy of Neurology) - PDF
Related Issues
- Dressing with Ease, Style and Comfort (ALS Association) - PDF
Specifics
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Angelman Syndrome
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
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Chorea
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
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Fragile X-Associated Tremor and Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS)
(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) Also in Spanish
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Functional Movement Disorder
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
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Myoclonus
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary
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Myoclonus
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) Also in Spanish
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Neuroacanthocytosis
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
-
Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
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Paroxysmal Choreoathetosis Disease
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
- Paroxysmal Dyskinesias (Dystonia Medical Research Foundation)
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Sydenham Chorea (Saint Vitus Dance)
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
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Tardive Dyskinesia
(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
Genetics
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Genetics Home Reference: action myoclonus-renal failure syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: ADCY5-related dyskinesia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Alpers-Huttenlocher syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Angelman syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: ataxia with vitamin E deficiency
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Boucher-Neuhäuser syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: brain-lung-thyroid syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: chorea-acanthocytosis
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Christianson syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: CLCN2-related leukoencephalopathy
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: congenital mirror movement disorder
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: essential tremor
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: familial paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: familial paroxysmal nonkinesigenic dyskinesia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
-
Genetics Home Reference: hypermanganesemia with dystonia
(National Library of Medicine)
-
Genetics Home Reference: leukoencephalopathy with brainstem and spinal cord involvement and lactate elevation
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: McLeod neuroacanthocytosis syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
-
Genetics Home Reference: mitochondrial membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: myoclonic epilepsy myopathy sensory ataxia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: myoclonus-dystonia
(National Library of Medicine)
-
Genetics Home Reference: pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Perry syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: PRICKLE1-related progressive myoclonus epilepsy with ataxia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: rapid-onset dystonia parkinsonism
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: sepiapterin reductase deficiency
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: spinocerebellar ataxia type 1
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: spinocerebellar ataxia type 2
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: spinocerebellar ataxia type 3
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: spinocerebellar ataxia type 6
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: triosephosphate isomerase deficiency
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism
(National Library of Medicine)
Statistics and Research
- Medical Marijuana in Certain Neurological Disorders (American Academy of Neurology) - PDF
Clinical Trials
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Ataxia
(National Institutes of Health)
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Chorea
(National Institutes of Health)
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Movement Disorders
(National Institutes of Health)
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Tardive Dyskinesia
(National Institutes of Health)
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Torticollis
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Find an Expert
Children
- EMG (Electromyography) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
- Tics, Tourette Syndrome, and OCD (American Academy of Pediatrics)
Teenagers
- Tics (Nemours Foundation)
Patient Handouts
- Angelman syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Chronic motor tic disorder (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Facial tics (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Movement - uncontrollable (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Movement - uncontrolled or slow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Movement - uncoordinated (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Movement - unpredictable or jerky (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Tardive dyskinesia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish