You’re relaxing on the sofa when suddenly your eyelid starts twitching. Or perhaps it’s a muscle in your arm, your leg, or your foot that begins to spasm – sometimes for a few seconds, sometimes for ... Overview Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a-my-o-TROE-fik LAT-ur-ul skluh-ROE-sis) is a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Understanding the Context

Also known as ALS, the disease leads to muscle weakness and gets worse over time. ALS often begins with muscle twitching and weakness in an arm or leg, trouble swallowing, or slurred speech. Eventually ALS affects the muscles needed ... Motor nerves that control muscle movement.

Key Insights

Autonomic nerves that control functions such as blood pressure, sweating, heart rate, digestion and bladder function. Symptoms of peripheral neuropathy might include: Gradual onset of numbness, prickling, or tingling in your feet or hands. These sensations can spread upward into your legs and arms. USA Today: Muscle twitching? Difference between twitch and spasm and when to worry Though many people experience muscle twitching, it's often incorrectly identified as a muscle spasm.

Final Thoughts

While both are involuntary contractions of a muscle, muscle spasms and muscle twitching aren't ... Muscle spasms Swelling Muscle weakness When to see the doctor Mild strains can be treated at home. See a doctor if your symptoms worsen despite treatment — especially if your pain becomes intolerable, or you experience numbness or tingling. Causes Acute strains can be caused by one event, such as using poor body mechanics to lift something heavy. Check with your doctor right away if you have dark urine, fever, muscle cramps or spasms, muscular pain, stiffness, tenderness, wasting or weakness, or unusual tiredness or weakness. Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-my-OL-ih-sis).

Rhabdomyolysis can cause extreme muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure, and death. The risk of very serious side effects is extremely low. Only a few cases of rhabdomyolysis occur per million people taking statins.