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Also called: Hemiplegia, Palsy, Paraplegia, Quadriplegia
Paralysis is the loss of muscle function in part of your body. It happens when something goes wrong with the way messages pass between your brain and muscles. Paralysis can be complete or partial. It can occur on one or both sides of your body. It can also occur in just one area, or it can be widespread. Paralysis of the lower half of your body, including both legs, is called paraplegia. Paralysis of the arms and legs is quadriplegia. In Ayurveda it is called as pakshavadha. It is said to be due to imbalance of the vata, the air element of the human body. Vata dosha is responsible for the proper coordination of all voluntary movements in the human body. A block in the proper movement of the vatadosha can bring about pakshavadha in the person.
Causes:
Most paralysis is due to strokes or injuries such as spinal cord injury or a broken neck. Other causes of paralysis include
• Nerve diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Autoimmune diseases such as Guillain-Barre syndrome
What is Strokes:
Strokes – Strokes are the leading cause of paralysis. Strokes are the sudden loss of function of a particular portion of the brain. Hence, the brain is not able to send reflexes or receive stimuli from the corresponding nerves. Usually strokes can cause the paralysis of arms and legs, but the torso is not affected.
Further, the stroke itself can be caused due to the loss of blood supply to the brain. The causes for this erroneous blood supply are:-
• Atherosclerosis, which may result in clogging of the blood vessel carrying blood to the cranial region
• Hemorrhage, which may be the rupturing of a blood vessel carrying blood to the brain
• Hypertension, which increases blood pressure and makes it more difficult for blood to reach the brain
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