Question
When a child becomes tense, they experience hand spasms and stiff limbs, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. What could be the cause? Are your department’s offices open as usual during the Spring Festival holiday?
Answer
Cramps, also known as spasms, are a manifestation of temporary disarray in brain function. The movement of human muscles is controlled by the brain. When the brain cells responsible for managing muscle movement become temporarily overexcited, uncontrollable muscle movements occur, which can be limited to a group of muscles or one side of the body, or affect the entire body. Causes of cramps include high fever, epilepsy, tetanus, rabies, and calcium deficiency, among others. These can be systemic or localized, such as cramps in the gastrocnemius (commonly known as the calf muscle), often caused by sudden exercise or work fatigue or severe twisting of the ankle. They often occur when lying down or sleeping. Clinical manifestations include generalized tonic seizures and focal seizures. The former is characterized by generalized muscle stiffness and rhythmic twitching, presenting as an arched back; the latter involves only regional muscle twitching, such as one limb twitching, facial muscle twitching, finger or toe twitching, eye movement, nystagmus, blinking movements, or staring. Most patients are unconscious. The duration of these seizures can range from a few seconds to several minutes, with severe cases lasting for several minutes or recurring repeatedly. Seizures that last for 30 minutes or more are referred to as the persistent state of convulsions.