ataxia
/əˈtaksɪə
/(also ataxy /əˈtaksi/)
noun [mass noun] Medicine
The loss of full control of bodily movements.Other causes of apparent clumsiness include visual impairment, orthopedic disorders, mild cerebral palsy, hereditary ataxia, and congenital chorea....
- Over time, diverse clinical symptoms develop, among them peripheral neuropathies, ataxia, loss of position sense, and dementia.
- Other episodic neurological disorders include periodic paralysis, hemiplegic migraine, and episodic ataxia.
Derivatives
ataxic
/ adjective ...- Toni is a high achiever but has the mildest form of ataxic cerebral palsy and needs a scribe to help with note taking as she has a tremor in her hand.
- Wernicke's encephalopathy is difficult to diagnose because the classic triad of confusion, ataxia, and ophthalmoplegia occurs in only 10% of patients, and drunk people are often confused and ataxic.
- If too much lithium is given there can be ataxic behavior with sedation and slurred speech.
Origin
Late 19th century: modern Latin, from Greek, from a- 'without' + taxis 'order'. The original sense was 'irregularity, disorder', later (in medical use) denoting irregularity of function or symptoms.