01/4​Muscle twitches, spasms, or jerking
Cancer is a disease in which some of the body's cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms of cancer are innumerable, however, many of the warning signs are seemingly unrelated to the tumor’s point of origin. Sometimes, a cancerous tumor is malignant, meaning it can grow and spread to other parts of the body where the nerves are centred, causing muscle twitches, spasms, or jerking. Muscle twitches are caused by involuntary contractions in the area, or uncontrollable twitching of a muscle group that is served by a single motor nerve fiber.
02/4​Why do muscles twitch?
Symptoms typically occur when the tumor starts pressing on the brain, stopping the normal functioning of part of the organ. A brain tumor can irritate the neurons in the brain, causing muscle contractions, twitching, numbness and tingling, shallow breathing and loss of consciousness.
Tumors that spread to the temporal lobe, frontal lobe, and parietal lobe can cause problems in speech, decision making, problem-solving, concentration, and thinking speed functions. Therefore, it is imperative to address symptoms as they appear. Anyone affected by unusual bodily changes is advised to contact their doctor for further examination.
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03/4​Cancer affecting spinal cord is dangerous
If the spinal cord becomes affected, problems may arise in the muscles, such as tightening of the muscular tissues in the leg, ankle and foot. Any type of tumor may occur in the spine, including primary and secondary tumors. Most of the primary tumors are benign and slow growing. Secondary tumors are cancer cells coming from other areas of the body.
Some major cancers that are known to spread to the spinal cord include cancer of the prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Due to their high capability to metastasise, these cancers can easily spread to the tissue inside the spine.
Two types of blood cancer, such as myeloma and leukaemia, have also been known to spread to the backbone. This usually happens when the malignancy originates in the white cells or plasma cells inside the bone marrow.
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04/4What this can lead to
When cancer spreads to the spine, patients can also experience a loss of consciousness or body tone. This could be followed by sporadic episodes of twitching or relaxing of the muscle or a total loss of control of body functions, such as loss of bladder control.
They can experience back pain that worsens over time, often located in the middle or lower back, and is usually severe and not relieved by pain medicine. This pain gets worse when lying down or straining, and may extend to the hips or legs. Affected people may also experience muscle weakness in the legs that causes falls, makes walking difficult, and may get worse and lead to paralysis.
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