Therapy | Muscular weakness

Therapy

The treatment of a muscle weakness depends on its cause. In the simple forms, it is usually sufficient to ensure a healthy diet, i.e. to enrich it with vitamin or nutrient preparations (usually magnesium or iron). If a muscle weakness is caused by a simple infection, it will heal without treatment as soon as the infection disappears.

If, however, a neurological disease causes the muscle weakness, a detailed, sometimes lifelong therapy is often necessary. For some of the diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, the muscle weakness cannot be completely cured, but at least the symptoms can be improved. In addition to specific measures based on the disease at hand, general treatments such as physiotherapy and physical therapies (massages, electrical treatments, alternating and exercise baths and heat treatments) are used for disease-related muscle weakness.Unfortunately, muscle weakness can only be prevented in its simple form. All you have to do is eat a healthy, balanced diet rich in minerals and vitamins and exercise regularly. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to prevent the diseases associated with muscle weakness, since no causes are known to date or genetic defects are responsible.

Duration of muscle weakness

The duration of a muscle weakness cannot be defined in general, as it varies individually depending on the cause. The quickest way to treat muscle weakness is probably to treat vitamin deficiency or severe physical and psychological stress. But many other triggers also cause a temporary muscle weakness.

With the right treatment, the muscle weakness can then disappear after a few days or weeks. As long as no more serious, partly hereditary disease could be the cause of the muscle weakness, this weakness is usually reversible and therefore relatively harmless. Otherwise, the muscle weakness can last a lifetime and even worsen in the course of time and ultimately be the cause of death.

Prognosis

The prognosis of a muscle weakness can only be made depending on its severity and cause. Reversible causes such as a vitamin deficiency, stress or certain medications have a good prognosis. Drug-induced muscle weakness, for example, is very harmless and usually regresses promptly after discontinuation of the medication.

However, there are also a few diseases with a rather poor prognosis. In the specific case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (=ALS), for example, the prognosis is very poor because this degenerative nerve disease ultimately leads to a cessation of breathing due to an insufficient breathing excursion caused by the weakened respiratory muscle. At diagnosis, the mean survival time is usually only 2 to 5 years.

Only 10 % live longer than 10 years in exceptional cases. The exact prognosis can therefore only be made if a clear clinical picture for the muscle weakness has been diagnosed. Due to the sometimes poor prognosis, no premature prognosis should be made.