I'm afraid that I'm rather limited in my ability to define the disease. I know what's going on but to describe it and sound somewhat intelligent is not easy for me. The best I can tell you is that it's a royal pain in the ass. I figure that's rather insufficient so I'm going to do try a little harder. I will resort to copying off the web sight.
HSP (hereditary spastic paraplegia) and PLS (primary lateral sclerosis) are caused by degeneration of the upper motor neurons. Upper motor neurons are the nerve cells that control voluntary movement. They are located on the motor cortex of the brain and carry messages to the brain stem and spinal cord. They connect to other nerves called "lower motor neurons:, which carry the messages out to the muscles to tell them to move.
When there is degeneration in the upper motor neurons, messages cannot adequately reach the lower motor neurons and their messages to the corresponding muscles are impaired. This causes the muscles to be weak and muscle tone to be increased, resulting in stiffness or spasticity.
In both HSP and PLS, nerve degeneration occurs in the lower part of the spinal cord, resulting in weakness and spasticity in the lower body. In PLS, degeneration also occurs in higher regions in the spinal cord and brainstem, causing weakness and spasticity in the arms, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing. This can also happen to a smaller degree in HSP.
Since the HSP and PLS share the same lower body symptoms the true diagnosis is usually discovered over time as symptoms develope.
Dr. Fink has called my case ASP (apparently sparatic paraplegia), since I couldnt' find anyone in the family who had a problem. My cousin Maggie had been a nurse in England and she once came across a patient prepared for surgery and SP was on her chart. I suppose they just called it that. It's all the same really.
All this information, and more, can be found at http://www.sp-foundation.org/. *("And now for something completely different.")
HSP (hereditary spastic paraplegia) and PLS (primary lateral sclerosis) are caused by degeneration of the upper motor neurons. Upper motor neurons are the nerve cells that control voluntary movement. They are located on the motor cortex of the brain and carry messages to the brain stem and spinal cord. They connect to other nerves called "lower motor neurons:, which carry the messages out to the muscles to tell them to move.
When there is degeneration in the upper motor neurons, messages cannot adequately reach the lower motor neurons and their messages to the corresponding muscles are impaired. This causes the muscles to be weak and muscle tone to be increased, resulting in stiffness or spasticity.
In both HSP and PLS, nerve degeneration occurs in the lower part of the spinal cord, resulting in weakness and spasticity in the lower body. In PLS, degeneration also occurs in higher regions in the spinal cord and brainstem, causing weakness and spasticity in the arms, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing. This can also happen to a smaller degree in HSP.
Since the HSP and PLS share the same lower body symptoms the true diagnosis is usually discovered over time as symptoms develope.
Dr. Fink has called my case ASP (apparently sparatic paraplegia), since I couldnt' find anyone in the family who had a problem. My cousin Maggie had been a nurse in England and she once came across a patient prepared for surgery and SP was on her chart. I suppose they just called it that. It's all the same really.
All this information, and more, can be found at http://www.sp-foundation.org/. *("And now for something completely different.")
*Monty Python
4:15 p.m.
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