Comprehensive Muscle and Movement Disorders: Definitions and Key Terms

In opposition to each other.

Antagonistic

Condition of slow movement.

Bradykinesia

Involuntary and found only in the heart. Highly coordinated contractions pump blood into the vessels of the circulatory system.

Cardiac muscle

Abnormal involuntary movements of the extremities, trunk, or jaw.

Dyskinesia

Record of the electricity of the muscle.

Electromyogram

Recording of muscle electrical activity in response to a nerve's stimulation of the muscle.

Electromyography (EMG)

A common nonarticular rheumatic syndrome characterized by muscle pain.

Fibromyalgia

Paralysis on one side of the body.

Hemiplegia

The process by which the body seals a ruptured blood vessel to prevent further blood loss.

Hemostasis

Excessive movement of muscles of the body as a whole.

Hyperkinesia

The enlargement of muscles.

Hypertrophy

A procedure in which radio waves and a powerful magnet linked to a computer are used to create detailed pictures of areas inside the body.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

A general term for the group of inherited myopathies that are characterized by wasting and weakness of the skeletal muscle.

Muscular dystrophy

Pain in a muscle or group of muscles.

Myalgia

A disease in which antibodies made by a person's immune system prevent certain nerve-muscle interactions, causing weakness in the arms and legs, vision problems, and drooping eyelids or head.

Myasthenia Gravis

Cancer that arises in plasma cells.

Myeloma

Paralysis that affects both legs and lower part of the body.

Paraplegia

Partial paralysis wherein there is still some control of the muscles.

Paresis

An inflammatory disease of the muscles closest to the center of the body.

Polymyositis

Paralysis of all four limbs.

Quadriplegia

Necrosis or disintegration of skeletal muscle.

Rhabdomyolysis

The muscles responsible for voluntary muscle movement; also called striated muscle.

Skeletal muscle

The muscles responsible for involuntary muscle movement; also called visceral muscle.

Smooth muscle

The stretching or tearing of the supporting ligaments.

Sprain

An overstretching or overexertion of a muscle or tendon.

Strain

Inflammation of the tendon.

Tendinitis