What Does Paralytic Mean?

Paralytic means "relating to paralysis or the symptoms of paralysis." A person affected with paralysis illness is also known to be paralytic.

Paralysis is medically defined as a total loss of strength in an affected muscle group or limb. Due to paralysis, the patient is not able to move his limb or a particular muscle group. The common causes of paralysis are stroke, poliomyelitis, botulism and trauma. The reason for paralysis is primarily attributed to the disorder of the nervous system. The nerve tissue that may be affected can be in the brain, the spinal cord or in a particular muscle group. The paralysis can be on one side or hemiplegia, or on both sides of the body at a particular portion ((paraplegia or quadriplegia), or centred around a small group of muscles or nerve tissues (localised paralysis)

The paralytic illness is usually due to the tear or compression of the nerves which in turn may be caused by a tumour, a toxic substance, hemorrage or infection. As mentioned before, the most common cause of paralysis is stroke which is the outcome of a hemorrage, or a case of a ruptured cerebral vessel disrupting the nerve function. Another paralytic disorder is the Parkinson's disease in which the muscle group becomes rigid and there is slowness in movement. Cerebral palsy is also a paralytic problem caused by damage to the brain or motor nerves before or during the birth. A total rehabilitation program is prescribed to the paralytic patient with emphasis on physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

A paralytic is a person that is inflicted with the crippling disease of paralysis. Paralytic may also be an adjective that is used to describe something linked with paralysis. An example is 'paralytic Symptoms include stiff muscles'.

Paralysis is a disease which is characterised by the complete loss of control over a particular muscle function which for a single or multiple muscle groups. It is caused by any of the following: trauma, poliomyelitis, stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Guillain-Barré syndrome, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, or botulism.

Paralysis may follow a distinct pattern, be localized or generalized. A good example is a person suffering from Bell's palsy may experience facial paralysis on one side of the face owing to the inflammation of the nerves on the affected side. Certain poisons like curare for instance will interfere in the functioning of nerves and may cause paralysis. Superman actor Christopher reeves suffered from paralysis until his death. Other famous people who were paralytics are Sam Sullivan, Jesse Billauer, and Michael Graves.