Ataxia: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

There are many factors that can condition our health and, by extension, our quality of life. Have you ever thought about the fact that movement can also be affected? There is a very characteristic clinical sign in this sense: ataxia. It consists of a movement disorder. Thus, the person who suffers from it lacks coordination, posture and voluntary control of his movements, among other deficits.

We are talking about a condition that consists of a lack of muscular control necessary to carry out movements. This situation can occur for various reasons. In the rest of this article, we explain what it is and tell you what are its causes, diagnosis and treatment.

The word “ataxia” comes from ancient Greek and means “disorderly”. Ataxia therefore consists of an alteration in the coordination of any type of movement. It can affect walking, the trunk, the limbs or any combination of these. In addition, the following symptoms can be noted:

• Nystagmus: uncontrollable movement of the eyes
• Dysarthria: difficulty in articulating sounds and words
• Hypotonia: decrease in muscle tension or tone
• Dysmetry: condition that prevents the subject from performing a motor act that adjusts to the required distance
• Dysdiadokokinesia: inability to rapidly perform alternating movements
• Dysphagia: difficulty swallowing
• Difficulty walking, or even total loss of this ability
• Lack of coordination, and difficulty making precise movements
• Cognitive alterations: in other words, at the level of thought
• Emotional alterations: they cause a certain emotional instability, because depending on the affected areas, the disease is not always easy to accept and manage

Ataxia can also occur as part of another disease, such as multiple sclerosis, or in isolation, although this is quite rare. However, ataxia is not likely to occur until adulthood. In fact, certain epidemiological studies suggested by Salman (2007) in the journal The Cerebellum estimate a prevalence of cerebellar ataxia in 26 children out of 100,000 in Europe.

The origins of ataxia can be various. As we said earlier, it is not a disease in itself, but a clinical sign. Some of its possible causes are:

• Acquired ataxias:  they are caused by any pathology presented by the patient. There are different types:
  • Toxic: for example, those due to carbon monoxide or alcoholic cerebellar degeneration
  • Autoimmune ataxias: ataxia is here caused by gluten, and the relative subacute paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration.
  • Nutritional deficits: such as lack of vitamin E, Wernicke’s syndrome and subacute combined degeneration.
  • Neurodegenerative diseases: for example, multiple sclerosis, spinocerebellar ataxia and cerebrovascular disease.
  • Tumors: can cause ataxia tumors such as medulloblastoma, astrocytoma and hemangioblastoma.
• Genetic ataxias : generally, they occur at early ages, since it is hereditary ataxias. They can be autosomal recessive or dominant.
  • Recessive: The most common is Friedrich’s ataxia, in which neurodegeneration of the dorsal root ganglion cells, spinocerebellar and corticospinal tracts, and serrated nucleus occurs.
  • Dominant : depending on the course of the disease, ataxias can be episodic or progressive. Within the framework of the dominant ataxias, we find: spinocerebellar ataxias, congenital cerebellar ataxia and cerebellar vermal aplasia syndrome, among others.

As you can see, there are various types of ataxias. There is no way to cure it completely. On the other hand, one can find treatments that help the person to feel better.

There are different tests that allow the diagnosis of ataxia:

• Finger-nose: the patient is asked to touch his nose with the tip of his index finger. Then he is asked to touch the index finger of his examiner.
• Heel-to-knee: the patient should be supine (on the back). He is then asked to put his heel over his knee on the other end, and slide it up over the tibial crest. The patient should keep their eyes open or closed, and strain both ends.
• Rapid alternating exercises: the patient is asked to rotate both hands simultaneously, back and forth.

• Electromyogram: this is a study of nervous conduct.
• Psycho-diagnosis: neuropsychological studies aimed at evaluating the executive functions of the patient.

These are some of the tests that can be performed to diagnose ataxia. They facilitate the examination by a professional, qualified to interpret the results that these tests give.

The treatment of ataxia are limited and not specific to the disease. There are treatments that can directly cure the root cause, such as tumors and strokes. Usually, they focus on rehabilitation. This will make it easier for the patient to adapt to the world around her.

In addition, psychological intervention is important to achieve an essential goal: that the patient understands what is happening to him and that he learns to manage the emotions and the thoughts that he generates about his condition. In addition, we are talking about an intervention that should also allow the patient’s entourage to know how to proceed and act.

Our thoughts

Balint syndrome affects the connection between the cortical regions of vision and the prerrolandic motor areas.