View source for Hyperreflexia

{{Short description|Overactive bodily reflexes}}
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{{more medical citations needed|date=February 2021}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2024}}
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}}'''Hyperreflexia''' is overactive or overresponsive bodily [[reflexes]]. Examples of this include [[Muscle contraction|twitching]] and [[Spasticity|spastic]] tendencies, which indicate [[motor neuron disease|disease of the upper motor neurons]] and the lessening or loss of control ordinarily exerted by higher [[brain]] centers of lower neural pathways.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

[[Spinal cord injury]] is the most common cause of hyperreflexia.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Standard stimuli, such as the filling of the bladder, can cause excessive responses from the nervous system. The causes of hyperreflexia are not known.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Hyperreflexia also has many other causes, including the side effects of [[Psychoactive drug|drugs]] (e.g., [[Stimulant|stimulants]]), [[hyperthyroidism]], [[electrolyte imbalance]], [[serotonin syndrome]], severe [[Traumatic brain injury|brain trauma]], [[multiple sclerosis]], [[Reye syndrome]], and [[preeclampsia|pre-eclampsia]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Recovery from hyperreflexia can occur several hours to several months after a [[spinal cord injury]]; the phase of recovery is likely to occur in stages rather than on a continuum.<ref name="hyper">Little, J., Ditunno, J. F., Stien, S., A., Harris, R. M. (1999). "Incomplete spinal cord injury: Neuronal mechanisms of motor recovery and hyperreflexia. ''Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation'' 80 (5): 587-599.</ref> The late stage is between two weeks and several months.<ref name="hyper" /> Patients with a severe spinal cord injury mainly present with a later stage of recovery because during the early stages they present with [[spinal shock]].<ref name="hyper" /> Reflex and motor recovery can sometimes occur simultaneously.<ref name="hyper" />

==See also==
* [[Hyporeflexia]]
* [[Autonomic dysreflexia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Medical resources|ICD10={{ICD10|R|29|2|r|25}} |ICD9={{ICD9|796.1}} |MeshID=D012021}}
* [https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001431.htm NIH/Medline]
* {{DiseasesDB|20760}}
* [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003999399902046 ''Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation'']

{{Nervous and musculoskeletal system symptoms and signs}}

[[Category:Symptoms and signs: Nervous system]]