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• 2 Dystonia
  • 2.1 Twisted neck
  • 2.2 Eyelid spasm
  • 2.3 Writer’s cramp
  • 2.4 Vocal cord spasm
  • 2.5 Spasms of the mouth, tongue and pharynx

Dystonia

Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder which can affect everybody at any age. In Germany, about 80.000 people, amongst which are 15.000 children and adolescents, suffer from this disorder. Developing in the so called movement centers in the brain, the disease has many manifestations. Characteristic symptoms are involuntary muscle contractions which trigger abnormal postures or movements. They can occur in the most different body areas.

Classification of dystonia

Dystonia is usually classified according to the following criteria:

• age of manifestation
• parts of the body affected
• aetiology

Classification according to the parts of the body affected differentiates between focal, segmental, multifocal and generalized dystonia and hemi-dystonia.

Focal dystonia:	Affects one single area of the body.
Segmental dystonia:	Affects at least two or more areas of the body that are adjacent (e.g. face and jaw, arm and neck).
Multifocal dystonia:	Appears in two or more areas of the body that are not adjacent (e.g., face and arm; arm and leg).
Generalized dystonia:	Involves several body areas on both sides of the body (e.g., both legs or one leg and trunk and at least one other body region).
Hemi-dystonia:	Affects either the left or the right side of the body.

On the website www.dystonieinfo.com we describe focal and segmental dystonia. These forms of the disease represent over 80 % of the dystonia manifesting at an adult age. They affect mainly the muscles of the head, neck and extremities.

The following forms of dystonia belong to this group:

• Twisted neck
• Eyelid spasm
• Writer's cramp
• Vocal cord spasm
• Spasms of the mouth, tongue and pharynx

• 0.1 A-
• 0.2 A
• 0.3 A+
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Dystonia at work

• Those affected often have acceptance problems

Further Neurological Websites in German

• Alzheimer´s
• Depression
• Parkinson´s Disease