Ataxia

Ataxia is a neurological sign of a nervous system dysfunction or other degenerative disease, and involves incoordinated muscle movements. Particularly affected are balance, walking, speech, arms, hands, fingers, legs and eyes, although symptoms may range throughout other areas of the body and function as well. Ataxia may be classified as either hereditary or non-hereditary ("sporadic ataxia").

Causes:

Some causes of ataxia actually include "ataxia" in their names. In these particular instances, as well as some others, the causes are hereditary in nature. Other ataxias are non-hereditary. Below are general causes of both categories of ataxia:

Acute transverse myelitis
Ataxia-telangiectasia
Autosomal dominant disorder
Autosomal recessive disorder
Brain tumor
Cerebellar degeneration
Cerebral palsy
Chickenpox (varicella zoster virus)
Congenital cerebellar ataxia
Diabetic polyneuropathy
Drugs and medications (some)
Episodic ataxia
Focal lesions
Friedreich's ataxia
Head trauma
Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Paraneoplastic syndromes
Peripheral neuropathy
Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
Spine degeneration
Spinocerebellar ataxia
Vacuolar myelopathy
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Wilson's disease

Symptoms, signs and complications:

Asynergy
Balance disorder or loss
Dementia
Dizziness
Dysarthria
Dyschronometria
Dysdiadochokinesia
Dysmetria (speech dysfunction)
Hypotonia
Intention tremor
Lost sense of position of limbs
Muscle rigidity
Muscle spasticity
Muscle weakness
Nausea
Nystagmus (eye movement dysfunction, jitters)
Romberg's sign
Unsteady walking (gait ataxia)
Unusual writing characteristics
Upper body incoordination
Vibration detection inability
Vomiting

Types:

Cerebellar ataxia
Sensory ataxia (a.k.a. proprioceptive ataxia)
Vestibular ataxia

It is possible for more than one type of ataxia to exist at once in a patient.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of ataxia is made by a doctor or medical professional. Personal and family medical history may be taken into consideration, and neurological and blood tests can be administered.

Treatment

Ataxia does not have any particular treatment methods, but certain underlying medical conditions and causes may be treated. The physical disability that comes with ataxia may be partially relieved through physical therapy options.

See also:

Neurological dysfunction
Romberg's test
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) deficiency

Synonyms and other key terms:

Gait ataxia
Multiple system atrophy cerebral type (MSA-C)
Sporadic olivopontocerebellar ataxia (sporadic OPCA)

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Ataxia