Palsy is a medical term which refers to various types of paralysis[1] or paresis, often accompanied by weakness and the loss of feeling and uncontrolled body movements such as shaking. The word originates from the Anglo-Norman paralisie, parleisie et al., from the accusative form of Latin paralysis, from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis), from παραλύειν (paralúein, "to disable on one side"), from παρά (pará, "beside") + λύειν (lúein, "loosen"). The word is longstanding in the English language, having appeared in the play Grim the Collier of Croydon, reported to have been written as early as 1599:
Rob. I'll have thee come, I say. Why tremblest thou?
Grim. No sir, not I; 'tis a palsy I have still.[2]
In some editions, the Bible passage of Luke 5:18 is translated to refer to "a man which was taken with a palsy". More modern editions simply refer to a man who is paralysed. Although the term has historically been associated with paralysis generally, "is now almost always used in connection to the word cerebral—meaning the brain".[1]
Specific kinds of palsy include:
- Bell's palsy, partial facial paralysis
- Bulbar palsy, impairment of cranial nerves
- Cerebral palsy, a neural disorder caused by intracranial lesions
- Conjugate gaze palsy, a disorder affecting the ability to move the eyes
- Erb's palsy, also known as brachial palsy, involving paralysis of an arm
- Spinal muscular atrophy, also known as wasting palsy
- Progressive supranuclear palsy, a degenerative disease
- Squatter's palsy, a common name for bilateral peroneal nerve palsy that may be triggered by sustained squatting[3][4][5]
- Third nerve palsy, involving cranial nerve III
References
- 1 2 Dan Agin, More Than Genes: What Science Can Tell Us About Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children;; (2009), p. 172.
- ↑ Grim the Collier of Croydon, Act V., Sc. I.
- ↑ Macpherson JM, Gordon AJ Squatter's palsy British Medical Journal, 1983
- ↑ Kumaki DJ. The facts of Kathmandu: squatter's palsy. 2 January 1987;257(1):28.
- ↑ "Toğrol E. Bilateral peroneal nerve palsy induced by prolonged squatting. Mil Med. 2000 Mar;165(3):240-2". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
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