Signs and treatment of muscle hypotension - how to overcome the ailment?

One of the important functions of all living beings is the movement function, which allows us to actively interact with the world around us. Muscle hypotension is a decrease in muscle tone, which often appears in small and even newborn babies. This condition is also called the "sluggish child" syndrome. A more severe degree of muscle hypotension is called lack of muscle tonus or muscle atony.

Reasons for the appearance of muscle hypotension

As an independent disease, this condition is rare, much more often muscle hypotension is a syndrome of other diseases. Thus it is proved, that occurrence of a symptom of a hypotonia of muscles can be both congenital, and got. In medicine, more than 80 pathological conditions and diagnoses are described, in which one of the symptoms is the diffuse hypotension of the muscles.

The causes that can cause muscle hypotension include:

• Genetic disorders and disruption of the central nervous system( cerebellar ataxia).
• Congenital forms of neuromuscular diseases( congenital myasthenia gravis, spinal muscular atrophy of the first type).
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• Muscular developmental malformations( muscular dystrophy).
• Infectious diseases( botulism, septic conditions).
• Asphyxia arising in childbirth.
• Craniocerebral injury.
• Congenital connective tissue disease with the destruction of collagen, which forms the muscular ligaments.
• Heredity and transmitted metabolic disorders.
• Diseases of the endocrine system( congenital hypothyroidism).
• Chromosomal disorders( Down's disease, Prader-Willi syndrome).
• Rezus- or ABO-incompatibility( severe forms of reactive jaundice).

Symptoms and symptoms of

The syndrome of muscle hypotension is characterized primarily by the fact that children with low muscle tone slowly contract muscles in response to a nerve stimulus, and after a response, the response can not hold the muscles in a reduced state for a long period of time. Muscular hypotension can be of varying severity, which immediately affects the overall development and appearance of the child.

Symptoms of muscle hypotension include:

• The absence or decrease of congenital reflexes, which include the reflex of crawling, grasping, as well as the reflex of foot rest and step response. It is noticeable that the child lacks active movements.
• Symptoms such as respiratory failure and severe muscle weakness may join.
• The tummy in the prone position has the appearance of a "frog", and the child lacks the postures characteristic of the infant.
• Elevated limbs in children do not hold and fall, and the joints therefore re-unravel and are in a loose state.
• As children grow, emotional poverty in communication, rapid energy exhaustion and lack of animation at the sight of toys and treats are noted.
• Such children later begin to crawl and stand on their legs, do not hold the head themselves, while lying on their stomachs they straighten the handles, do not sit on all fours.
• Braking of motor development and incontinence of the backrest is noted.

In some cases, muscle hypotension in children occurs not on two sides, but on one, then the delay will be one-sided. Muscular hypotension is sometimes combined with other disorders from the central nervous system, which manifest themselves in the form of seizures, paresis and paraparesis of the cranial nerves, paralysis of the facial nerve, hydrocephalus.

Diagnosis of the disease is based on the history, physical examination, as well as on the basis of computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. In some cases, additional electroencephalography, general and biochemical blood tests, genetic analysis of a set of chromosomes, a biopsy of muscle tissue are done additionally.

Treatment of muscle hypotension

Treatment of muscle hypotension in children always begins with a special reflex massage, which can be carried out at home or outpatient. It is very important for parents to know the first symptoms of the manifestation of the disease in order to reach the doctor in time and start treatment. Experts argue that the earlier the treatment process is started, the better the prognosis for the child.

It is also important to establish the cause of the manifestation of such a syndrome, which presents certain difficulties. It is especially difficult to diagnose children with acquired other diseases in parallel, when muscle hypotension is one of the many symptoms of the underlying disease.

Muscular hypotension in newborns is treated strictly individually, depending on the causes of this condition and overall status at the time of treatment. Several specialists - pediatrician, neurologist, cardiologist, orthopedist, physiotherapist, speech therapist, genetic disorders specialist, should participate in the treatment process.

The methods of treatment that are used are as follows:

• The application of methods of therapeutic gymnastics and physiotherapy.
• Application of logopedic skills for proper development of speech.
• Therapy of fine motor skills( modeling, drawing, cutting).
• Therapy for proper posture and gait.
• Rational nutrition, tailored to suit the needs of the patient.
• Medications( muscle toning drugs, antibiotics, drugs from myasthenia).

For parents who already have children with congenital or acquired diseases of the nervous system, as well as with the diagnosis of muscle hypotension, it is important to pass a test for genetic compatibility and possible chromosomal abnormalities in children.