Neck muscles are used to tilt its head in an adorable fashion. Humans tilt their heads to express interest. But imagine how disturbing and painful it would be if your neck tilted involuntarily, without you being able to control it! Fifty-three-year-old Jose, unfortunately, knows just how debilitating this can be. Jose has a rare condition called dystonia, which is also called spasmodic torticollis. In this condition, the muscles in the neck contract involuntarily, often causing the person’s head to twist to one side. The muscles may contract in a sustained fashion, holding the head and neck in one position, or they may spasm repeatedly, causing jerky movements of the head and neck. Cervical dystonia is painful and can significantly interfere with individuals' ability to carry out their usual daily activities. In Jose’s case, they can no longer drive a car, because thei
Neck muscles are used to tilt its head in an adorable fashion. Humans tilt their heads to express interest. But imagine how disturbing and painful it would be if your neck tilted involuntarily, without you being able to control it! Fifty-three-year-old Jose, unfortunately, knows just how debilitating this can be.
Jose has a rare condition called dystonia, which is also called spasmodic torticollis. In this condition, the muscles in the neck contract involuntarily, often causing the person’s head to twist to one side. The muscles may contract in a sustained fashion, holding the head and neck in one position, or they may spasm repeatedly, causing jerky movements of the head and neck. Cervical dystonia is painful and can significantly interfere with individuals' ability to carry out their usual daily activities. In Jose’s case, they can no longer drive a car, because their uncontrollable head and neck movements and abnormal head positioning prevent them from navigating the road safely. Nasir also has severe neck and shoulder pain much of the time. Although it can be caused by an injury, there is no known cause of cervical dystonia—and there is also no cure. Fortunately for Jose and other cervical dystonia sufferers, though, there is a treatment that can significantly reduce symptoms in many people. You may be surprised to learn that this treatment is the same substance that, when injected into the face, is used for cosmetic purposes to reduce wrinkles! The substance is botulinum toxin, one preparation of which may be familiar to you by its brand name: Botox.
1. Discuss the mechanism of Botox in treatment of dystonia.
2. Provide a basic workflow of how you can discover a treatment for dystonia and in relation to muscle physiology. only the leader will upload the final output.
Step by step
Solved in 3 steps
