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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