Ballism is uncontrolled, jerky movements of the limbs, also occurring at rest. The problem is of a neurological origin and affects people of all ages, but mostly older. What are the causes of ballism and how is this disorder treated?
Ballismis a neurological disorder associated with damage to the Luys low-thalamic nucleus in the extrapyramidal system, which is manifested by abnormal movements. The patient makes pointless, sudden, sweeping movements of his limbs.
Ballism is one of the dysfunctions of the extrapyramidal system. In addition to it, we distinguish, among others Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea and hepatolenticular degeneration.
Znienacka throws an arm or a leg forward or in a different direction. It looks as if he is throwing a limb away from him. Unfortunately, this violence often leads to self-mutilation by the sick person, who never expects himself to hit something. Therefore, in people affected by ballism, numerous bruises and scratches on the body are observed.
Ballical movementsmay also appear while idle. They often wake the sick person up and lead to exhaustion and a general depressed well-being. In addition to exhaustion, they can also result in disability.
Ballism usually affects the proximal, or closer (closer) parts of the legs and arms, less often the neck. If the ball movements only cover one side of the body, we talk about hemibalism (the most common form of ballism), if only one limb is about monobalism. Involuntary movements of the distal (distal) parts of the limbs are less frequent, but less intense.
Causes of ballism
Ballistic movements may appear in connection with damage to the basal ganglia (mainly the low thalamus), the thalamus or the white matter of the cerebral hemispheres. They very often coexist with chorea to which they are similar in terms of morphology and etiology. The other causes of ballism are:
- ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke
- cancer
- demyelinating changes
- blood diseases (systemic connective tissue diseases)
- side effect of antiepileptic drugs or levodopa (used to treat Parkinson's disease)
- infections such as syphilis, tuberculosis or toxoplasmosis
- immune inflammations (lupus, Sydenham's chorea,systemic sclerosis, Behcet's disease)
- head injuries
- hereditary degenerative diseases
Ballism treatment
Sometimes the ballroom movements stop spontaneously within a few days to several weeks after, for example, a stroke. Usually, however, appropriate treatment must be implemented. Excessive muscle stimulation is reduced by anti-dopaminergic drugs. Gabapentin and valproic acid (used to treat epilepsy) are also improving. In ballism, neurosurgical treatment is also used, which aims to damage the structures responsible for the occurrence of involuntary movements and thus reduce or eliminate ball movements. These operations include:
- stereotaxic thalamotomy, which consists in deliberately damaging a small part of the thalamus, and
- stereotaxic palidotomy - involving damage to a small area of the pale ball