Atrophy can sometimes be cured and reversed if caught soon enough and you do things to reverse it such as through regular exercise and use of the muscles and by eating a healthy diet.
However atrophy cannot be cured or reversed overnight but it will take time.
Muscle atrophy is a problem because it leads to muscle weakness and wasting of the muscles.
When the muscle atrophy gets too bad then you can lose the ability to use your arms and legs in most cases and have a poor quality of life.
The two types of atrophy are Neurogenic atrophy and Pathologic atrophy.
Neurogenic atrophy is the most severe kind of muscle atrophy which can occur from disease of a nerve that connects to muscle or from an injury.
Pathologic atrophy is from aging, diseases such as cushing disease, starvation or from taking too much medication such as corticosteroids.
The symptoms of atrophy are inability to lift your legs up or lift your arms up properly and also tingling, weakness and numbness in your arms and legs or a decrease in muscle mass or one limb being smaller than the other.
Atrophy is muscle wasting where you lose muscle mass and you lose the ability to move your arms or legs properly.
An example of atrophy would be with multiple sclerosis which have 2 types of atrophy that are common which include muscle atrophy (due to disuse of specific muscles) and brain or cerebral atrophy (due to demyelination and destruction of nerve cells).
The causes of an atrophy which is muscle wasting are certain medical conditions, lack of physical activity, genetics, aging and malnutrition.
In most cases muscle atrophy in elderly can be reversed through exercise and getting active again and using the muscles.
Resistance training and strength training can help to reverse muscle atrophy in the elderly and anyone else.
The greatest cause of muscle atrophy is lack of physical activity.
Staying active and moving around is the best way to help prevent muscle atrophy which is wasting of muscles.
When you don't move your muscles around such as your legs and arms the muscles waste away.
The diseases that cause muscle atrophy are.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig disease)
Damage to a single nerve, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Nerve damage caused by injury, diabetes, toxins, or alcohol.
Polio (poliomyelitis)
Spinal cord injury.
Muscle atrophy is wasting of muscle tissue and decrease in size of muscle tissue.
When muscles lose their nerve supply it can lead to muscle atrophy and waste away.
People with muscle atrophy can lose 20 to 40 percent of their muscle and along with it the strength as well.
Muscle atrophy can be caused by malnutrition, age, genetics, a lack of physical activity or certain medical conditions.
Disuse (physiologic) atrophy occurs when you don't use your muscles enough. Neurogenic atrophy occurs due to nerve problems or diseases.
The signs and symptoms of muscle atrophy include balance problems, loss of muscle coordination, facial weakness, tingling sensation in arms and legs, vision problems, fatigue, and more.
And in some cases, individuals with this condition also experience difficulty speaking and swallowing.
Causes of atrophy include mutations (which can destroy the gene to build up the organ), poor nourishment, poor circulation, loss of hormonal support, loss of nerve supply to the target organ, excessive amount of apoptosis of cells, and disuse or lack of exercise or disease intrinsic to the tissue itself.
There is no cure for SMA or muscle atrophy.
Treatment for muscle atrophy consists of managing the symptoms and preventing complications.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug nusinersen (Spinraza ™) to treat children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy.
Mild or moderate activities, such as walking a few steps with assistance or even bathing, may seem exhausting, but these activities are an important part of regaining strength and rebuilding muscle.
Because muscle atrophy can be due to serious diseases, failure to seek treatment can result in serious complications and permanent damage.
Vitamin D deficiency is also known to lead to muscle atrophy both in animals and humans.
Muscle wasting results because of an altered balance in the protein degradation and synthesis rates.
Types of neuromuscular disorders include: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Multiple sclerosis.