Dyskinesia is a term used to describe a neurological disorder. A person with dyskinesia usually has trouble making voluntary muscle movements and makes involuntary movements without control over them. It's usually easy to recognize these involuntary movements, or tics, in people who have Parkinson's disease, such as boxer Muhammed Ali and American actor Michael J. Fox. There are five main types of dyskinesia: tardive, tremor, dystonia, korea and myclonian
Tardive dyskinesia usually occurs late in life. It can be a side effect of certain antipsychotic medications, particularly trifluoperazine, haloperidol, metoclopramide, and fluphenazine. The disorder usually presents on a patient's face. Symptoms may include grimacing, chewing, abnormal tongue movements, and jaw rocking. Sometimes dyskinesia becomes permanent, even if the affected person stops taking the drug that causes it. The longer someone takes medications of this type, the more likely it is.
Tremor dyskinesia usually presents as tremor, usually in the legs, hands, head, trunk, or voice. This tremor is often most noticeable when a person stretches out their limbs, such as to emphasize a point or greet another person. This type often starts in a person's dominant hand and steadily worsens over time.
In most cases, the main symptom of dyskinesia dyskinesia is involuntary muscle contractions. People with dystonia usually appear to twist and distort their limbs, moving them wildly. This disorder can be traced to abnormal function in the cerebral cortex of the brain. It is often genetic.
Korean dyskinesia, named after the Greek word for dance , is usually characterized by sudden movements of the body. Since the body of an affected person often repeats these movements several times in a sequence, they can be compared to dance steps, especially if the chorea occurs in the legs or feet. These movements are usually concentrated on the patient's upper body, face, arms and legs. Sometimes a person with chorea comes across as impatient or restless.
People with myoclonic dyskinesia often have brief but intense jerks of involuntary movement. Seizures are often considered a form of myoclonic dyskinesia. There are many causes of this type of disease, such as brain damage, stroke, shock, epilepsy, and poisoning. It can affect almost any part of the body and even the entire body at the same time.
Dyskinesia treatments vary widely, as it is usually a symptom of another disorder. In the case of tardive dyskinesia, the main treatment is simply to stop the medication that caused it. For the other types, a combination of surgery and brain-altering drugs may be somewhat effective.