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.