atrophy
(verb)
To wither or waste away.
Examples of atrophy in the following topics:
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Muscular Atrophy
- Muscle atrophy can occur from disuse (decreated activity) or disease, resulting in power loss or immobility.
- Most cases of muscle atrophy in the general population results from disuse.
- This type of atrophy is reversible with vigorous exercise.
- Muscle atrophy that results from disease rather than disuse is generally one of two types:
- Even minor muscle atrophy usually results in some loss of mobility or power.
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Muscular Atrophy and Hypertrophy
- Muscle atrophy is the decrease in muscle strength due to a decrease in muscle mass, or the amount of muscle fibers.
- Atrophy can be partial or complete, varying in the extent of muscle weakness.
- Starvation can also result in muscle atrophy.
- Muscle atrophy is typical to some extent during aging.
- Atrophy over time due to aging is known as sarcopenia.
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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is caused by degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons, resulting in muscle weakness and atrophy.
- The disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body as a result of degeneration of the upper and lower motor neurons.
- Unable to function, the muscles weaken and atrophy.
- The earliest symptoms of ALS are typically obvious weakness and/or muscle atrophy.
- Symptoms of lower motor neuron degeneration include muscle weakness and atrophy, muscle cramps, and fleeting twitches of muscles that can be seen under the skin (fasciculations).
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Hypoglossal (XII) Nerve
- Progressive bulbar palsy is a neuromuscular atrophy associated with the combined lesions of the hypoglossal nucleus and the nucleus ambiguous, upon atrophy of the motor nerves of the pons and medulla.
- Tongue muscle atrophy may also occur.
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Embryological and Fetal Events
- A large part of the head end of the mesonephros atrophies and disappears; of the remainder the anterior tubules form the efferent ducts of the testis; while the posterior tubules are represented by the ductuli aberrantes, and by the paradidymis, which is sometimes found in front of the spermatic cord above the head of the epididymis.
- In the female the Wolffian bodies and ducts atrophy.
- In the male the Müllerian ducts atrophy, but in the female the Müllerian ducts persist and undergo further development.
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Stress and Disease
- This atrophy of the hippocampus is thought to represent decreased neuronal density.
- However, other studies suggest that hippocampal changes are explained by whole brain atrophy, and generalized white matter atrophy is exhibited by people with PTSD.
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Stability and Range of Motion at Synovial Joints
- Disuse, causing decrease in synovial fluid, flexibility of ligaments and tendons, and muscle atrophy
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Accessory (XI) Nerve
- Patients with spinal accessory nerve palsy may exhibit signs of lower motor neuron disease, such as atrophy and fasciculations of both the sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles.
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Hair and Hormones
- Male baldness is the result of genetic sensitivity of hair follicles to dihydrotestosterone that causes hair follicles to atrophy.
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Tonsils
- Similarly to the thymus, the tonsils tend to reach their largest size near puberty, and they gradually undergo atrophy thereafter.