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ataxia
EntityQ213373· pop 50· linked from 1,093 articles

Also known as incoordination, impaired gait, inabiliy to move

Ataxia (from Greek α- [a negative prefix] + -τάξις [order] = "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in eye movements, that indicates dysfunction of parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum.

Key facts

Medical condition (new).name
Ataxia
Medical condition (new).field
Neurology, Psychiatry
Medical condition (new).symptoms
Lack of coordination Slurred speech Trouble eating and swallowing Deterioration of fine motor skills Difficulty walking Gait abnormalities Eye movement abnormalities Tremors Heart problems

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

59,358 papers

via PubMed

~23 min read

Encyclopedic overview

26 sections
Contents
  • Types
  • Cerebellar
  • Sensory
  • Vestibular
  • Causes
  • Focal lesions
  • Exogenous substances (metabolic ataxia)
  • Radiation poisoning
  • Vitamin B<sub>12</sub> deficiency
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Causes of isolated sensory ataxia
  • Non-hereditary cerebellar degeneration
  • Hereditary ataxias
  • Arnold–Chiari malformation (congenital ataxia)
  • Succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency
  • Wilson's disease
  • Gluten ataxia
  • Potassium pump
  • Cerebellar ataxia associated with anti-GAD antibodies
  • Diagnosis
  • Treatment
  • Other uses
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Ataxia (from Greek α- [a negative prefix] + -τάξις [order] = "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in eye movements, that indicates dysfunction of parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum.

These nervous-system dysfunctions occur in several different patterns, with different results and different possible causes. Ataxia can be limited to one side of the body, which is referred to as hemiataxia. Friedreich's ataxia has gait abnormality as the most commonly presented symptom. Dystaxia is a mild degree of ataxia.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ataxia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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