The human body's muscular system is the set of internal tissue responsible for movement and coordination. This system can be affected by several diseases and disorders that can damage muscle tissue and greatly impact a patient's quality of life. Some of the more common muscular system diseases as of 2011 are muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, Lou Gehrig's disease and neuropathy. While brain-related illnesses such as Parkinson's disease can manifest as a lack of muscle control, these are not properly classified as muscular system diseases.
Muscular dystrophy is a serious degenerative disorder in which a patient's muscle strength gradually weakens over time. Patients with muscular dystrophy may experience muscular atrophy and a loss of control of one or more muscle groups. This is an inherited condition with no cure. Some sufferers may lose the ability to walk or experience potentially deadly complications with heart and lung muscles. While there is no cure for this illness, physical therapy and corticosteroids can help patients remain mobile and active longer.
Another serious muscular illness that causes weakness is myasthenia gravis. This disorder belongs to a larger family of muscular system diseases known as neuromuscular junction disorders. These disorders involve problems in transmitting information between the muscles and the nerve cells that control them. Myasthenia gravis results from an autoimmune disorder in which the patient's own antibodies interfere with the neurotransmitters. Patients suffering from this condition may experience difficulty breathing and performing routine muscle movements.
Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is one of the better known muscular system diseases because of its association with the popular baseball player. This condition is a type of motor neuron disease in which the nerve cells responsible for transmitting information to the muscles begin to die off. This leads to muscular atrophy throughout the body and eventual paralysis. While some forms of motor neuron disease are inherited, researchers have not determined what factors lead to ALS. This disease is incurable and typically leads to death within two or three years.
Another major family of muscular system diseases includes neuropathies. These conditions involve damage to peripheral nerves outside the spinal cord and can produce a variety of symptoms, depending on which nerves are involved. Patients suffering from a neuropathic condition cam experience numbness, tingling, muscle cramps and weakness. These types of muscular system diseases can be related to a number of factors, including genetics, ingesting toxic substances, vitamin deficiencies or other illnesses.