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What Causes Muscle Weakness In An Elderly Person?
my mother is 61. over the past 10 months she s developed muscle weakness throughout her body. at the end of December she was walking with a cane, end of January she was using a walker full time and now she barely walks with a walker by dragging her feet. she has little strength to lift her arms. she currently has seen her pcp, neurologist, neurosurgeon & pain management specialist. pcp thought MS, after mri neurologist thought spinal stenosis, neurosurgeon ruled out both with contrast mri. they all seem to be stumped at what is causing her rapid decline. im just curious if there are any other suggestions.
Thu, 31 Aug 2017
Hello,
Thank you for your query.
*Did she have any illness prior to the onset of the muscle weakness?
*any family history of neuromuscular disorder?
* does she have any other medical issues (like diabetes, for instance) or take any medications
*had a MRI of the brain been done? Results?
*how is her cognitive function? Is she able to tell the right time and date, able to remember & recognize people, names and places? Is she able to to have a conversation?
I would like to rule out auto immune disease like guillain-barre syndrome.
I recommend :
-Electromyography, nerve conduction studies
-lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid analysis
-muscle biopsy to assess neuro muscular junction
-blood tests (complete blood count, vitamin b12 levels, immunophoresis, heavy metal levels, Thyroid profile, blood sugar panel, folic acid levels, Creatinine, Creatinine kinase levels, liver function tests, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, auto immune panel).
Based on this, we can have a better idea as to what is happening.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Wish you both good health
Thank you for your query.
*Did she have any illness prior to the onset of the muscle weakness?
*any family history of neuromuscular disorder?
* does she have any other medical issues (like diabetes, for instance) or take any medications
*had a MRI of the brain been done? Results?
*how is her cognitive function? Is she able to tell the right time and date, able to remember & recognize people, names and places? Is she able to to have a conversation?
I would like to rule out auto immune disease like guillain-barre syndrome.
I recommend :
-Electromyography, nerve conduction studies
-lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid analysis
-muscle biopsy to assess neuro muscular junction
-blood tests (complete blood count, vitamin b12 levels, immunophoresis, heavy metal levels, Thyroid profile, blood sugar panel, folic acid levels, Creatinine, Creatinine kinase levels, liver function tests, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, auto immune panel).
Based on this, we can have a better idea as to what is happening.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Wish you both good health
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