Peripheral nerve and skeletal muscle
Neuropathies, the neuromuscular junction, myopathies and dystrophies, and nerve sheath tumours.
20 pages
Lesion
- Dermatomyositis and antisynthetase syndromeIn dermatomyositis, immune injury to small vessels causes skin rash and weakness at the edges of…
- Diabetic neuropathyYears of high blood sugar damage nerves, starting in the toes; numb feet get injured and…
- Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophyBoys missing the protein dystrophin have muscle fibres that tear with every contraction…
- Guillain–Barré syndrome and CIDPAfter an infection, antibodies and T cells attack nerve roots: weakness climbs over days…
- Infectious neuropathies: leprosy, diphtheria, zosterSome microbes live in nerves (leprosy), some poison myelin (diphtheria), and some hide in nerve…
- Inherited neuropathies: Charcot–Marie–Tooth and othersGene defects in myelin or axons cause slowly worsening weakness and wasting of the feet and…
- Lambert–Eaton syndrome and toxins of the junctionIn Lambert-Eaton, antibodies block calcium channels in the nerve ending, often with lung cancer
- Metabolic and mitochondrial myopathiesWhen muscle cannot burn glycogen, fat or oxygen properly, it cramps, breaks down with exercise…
- Metabolic, nutritional and toxic neuropathiesKidney failure, low thyroid, missing vitamins, alcohol, cancer drugs and heavy metals can all…
- Myasthenia gravis: the neuromuscular junctionAntibodies against acetylcholine receptors weaken the muscles of the eyes, face and limbs…
- Myotonic and other dystrophies; congenital myopathiesMany other gene defects weaken muscle: myotonic dystrophy with a grip that will not let go, FSHD…
- Necrotizing myopathy, inclusion body myositis and polymyositisSome muscle autoimmunity kills fibres with little inflammation, sometimes after statins…
- Neurofibroma, NF1 and MPNSTNeurofibromas are soft nerve-sheath tumours, many of them in NF1
- Schwannoma and neurofibromatosis type 2Schwannomas are benign tumours of Schwann cells that push the nerve aside; two on the hearing…
- Toxic and endocrine myopathies and rhabdomyolysisDrugs, alcohol, hormone imbalance and severe illness can weaken or destroy muscle; the worst…
- Traumatic and entrapment neuropathiesNerves can be cut, stretched or squeezed
- Vasculitic, paraneoplastic and paraprotein neuropathiesInflamed vessels starve nerves one by one; cancers trigger antibodies against sensory neurons…
Mechanism
- Muscle channelopathies and periodic paralysisFaulty ion channels in muscle cause attacks of paralysis tied to potassium, stiffness that eases…
- Peripheral nerve injury: axonal vs demyelinatingA nerve can fail because its axon dies, because its myelin is stripped, or because its neuron…
Topic
A to Z
Educational content on the mechanisms of disease; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. No doses are given.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.