Twitching muscles is a symptom of the deadly ALS disease, as this is listed on many medical sites that describe this fatal motor neuron condition.
Many people suffer from a mysterious condition in which they become consumed by intense fear – fear that they will be dead within five years, all because of two things: muscle twitching and the Internet.
The Internet has spawned terror in thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people in America. It begins quite innocently, and here is how:
A person begins to notice some minor, involuntary muscle twitching. They may not think much of it until it starts becoming more frequent, and/or “spreads” all over their body.
When it becomes annoying enough, the person googles cause of muscle twitching, or twitching muscles causes, or something like that.
The person either wants to know what can be causing this nuisance, or might want to see if this is a symptom of multiple sclerosis.
What the person doesn’t realize, is that he or she is in for the terror of his life.
Because when you google these key words, links for ALS come up.
Now, many people don’t know what ALS is, so they’ll click these links and they will soon find out, and their life will change at that moment.
And some other individuals know what ALS is, and when they see the links come up, their heart will start pounding and they’ll break a sweat.
ALS is perhaps the most horrific disease, far more relentless than AIDS, more frightening than cancer, and only Alzheimer’s is worse.
Well, actually, maybe not; at least with Alzheimer’s, there are well-established risk factors, and measures a person can take to really lower the risk.
But sporadic ALS has no known risk factors. The familial (genetic) version accounts for only 5-10 percent of cases.
Furthermore, there are no known measures a person can take to lower risk.
ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
When you want to move a muscle, the motor control region of your brain sends an electro-chemical impulse down your spinal cord, to the muscle you want to move, and the muscle contracts.
These impulses travel up to 300 feet per SECOND, which is why the desire to move, and the actual movement, are instantaneous.
- In ALS, the motor neurons in the brain start degenerating. Impulses no longer reach muscles.
- The muscles waste away.
- The person eventually loses the ability to walk and swallow, becomes bedridden and hooked to a respirator.
- Death is 100 percent certain, usually respiratory failure, and comes 2-5 years after diagnosis, though some victims live longer, like renowned phycisist Stephen Hawking.
Muscle twitching is a symptom of ALS. So imagine the sheer terror that a person will feel, when they discover this after googling muscle twitching.
They now believe they might have ALS. Not all googlers will go this route.
But a certain percentage will, even though ALS is at the bottom of the list of causes of muscle twitches.
All the sites generally say the same thing; that muscle twitching, also called fasciculations, is caused primarily by anxiety, stress, dehydration, strenuous exercise, general exercise, deficiency in calcium, magnesium or potassium, medication side effects, unknown causes, viral infections, and a few other miscellaneous causes.
ALS is at the bottom of the lists. But that certain percentage of googlers will fixate on this deadly, incurable disease, and from that moment on, their life will be hell.
Howie Zheng, MD, Neurologist
Howie Zheng, MD, is a general neurologist with The Neurology Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Zheng explains:
“I think one of the main things to make people aware of is that fasciculations does not automatically mean you have ALS.
“While the term fasciculations oftentimes leads to a state of panic, it should be noted that there are many different benign conditions that can cause fasciculations. It is a nonspecific term.
“Things such as fatigue, over-activity, anxiety, back problems, nerve compression can all cause fasciculations.
“In the case of ALS, usually fasciculations are accompanied by concomitant muscle weakness, atrophy and deterioration.”
Dr. Zheng treats patients experiencing fundamental symptoms of neurological conditions including isolated numbness, stiff muscles, weakness, tremors, difficulty swallowing and trouble moving.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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