dystonia

[dis-toh-nee-uh]

noun

Pathology.

1. abnormal tone of any tissue.

dystonia

/ dɪsˈtəʊnɪə /

noun

1. a neurological disorder, caused by disease of the basal ganglia, in which the muscles of the trunk, shoulders, and neck go into spasm, so that the head and limbs are held in unnatural positions

Other Word Forms

• dystonic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dystonia¹

dys- + -tonia

Word History and Origins

Origin of dystonia¹

from _dys- + -tonia from Greek tonos tension, from teinen to stretch

Example Sentences

He was diagnosed with a hypoxic brain injury, meaning his brain was starved of oxygen, and four-limb dystonia, which can lead to uncontrolled spasms in his arms and legs.

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Marie McCormick, 64, has dystonia, which causes muscle spasms in her upper limbs and neck, and she said the situation was "discriminatory".

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DBS is a surgical treatment for people with severe movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease and dystonia.

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"We hear many stories of broken lives and careers from patients with laryngeal dystonia and they have been desperate for new treatments. Our trial gives us hope for a new, effective treatment that can be offered to some of these patients," says lead author Kristina Simonyan, MD, PhD, Dr med, vice chair for clinical research in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Mass Eye and Ear and professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

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"There's a lot of interest from the dystonia community, and we get many calls from patients asking, 'When will this drug be available? How can I have a prescription?'"

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