Serious Symptoms Of Muscle Atrophy

Difficulty Breathing

Some patients with muscle atrophy experience difficulty breathing as a symptom of their condition. This symptom is particularly common when patients are dealing with spinal muscular atrophy. The reason is linked to weakness in the muscles that support the patient's chest wall. These muscles are also called the intercostal muscles. When these muscles are weak, it forces the patient's diaphragm to take on most of the effort of breathing. Over time, this results in difficulty breathing. Of course, difficulty breathing can also appear when a patient's muscle atrophy is due to a condition like muscular dystrophy. Specifically, patients with muscular dystrophy often experience difficulty breathing when they are asleep first.

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Impaired Coordination

Many patients dealing with muscle atrophy will see impaired coordination as one of their symptoms. In most cases, impaired coordination appears alongside issues with balance. Since muscle atrophy means that an individual's muscles are imbalanced, such as one leg being significantly smaller than the other, it is common for patients to find that they do not work in the same way as each other. After all, one is compromised. Impaired coordination may be more noticeable if a patient is experiencing muscle atrophy involving one of their arms. Physical therapy is a significant treatment when individuals are experiencing impaired coordination.

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