(no subject)

[trinityvixen]

Related to my earlier question, again for the doctors, and this time even more specifically for the MDs (but by all means, slackwench field this one if you know):

Would you say oculogyric crisis has symptoms which might be considered as common to someone who was, say, hit with Joker toxin?

(methinks you might have some idea from whence these questions come, now)

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Oh good, House/Batman crossover fanfic.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You go squish now. It's not a crossover at all, so nyah :P

I actually have NO idea where this question came from

[plungerdna.livejournal.com]

I had never heard of "Oculogyric crisis (OGC)" or "Joker Toxin." I wikipediaed both and see that the latter is fiction, but the former I think is just a general descriptive term because the mechanism of action for the dystonia is different in all the examples used in the article. I was trying to see if it was anti-cholinergic, cholinergic, or sympathetic (side effects are often classified as such), but there are overlapping descriptions, so I really don't know...also, how does the diaphragm fit in? Does joker toxin decrease respiratory rate or paralyze the diaphragm?

By definition, the diaphragm is a muscle. It is the major muscle of inspiration and when it is lowered it increases the negative pressure of the thorax forcing air to rush into the lungs. It is innervated by the phrenic nerve (cervical nerves 3,4,5) which contains sensory fibers running throughout the chest (why you feel pain in your neck and shoulder when you have angina) and motor fibers to the diaphragm. I am pretty sure these motor fibers are both somatic (you control them) AND autonomic (involuntary) and explain why you can control breathing if you choose, but also how breathing is auto-regulated when you sleep. Your external intercostal muscles ("costal" means rib) are also primary muscles of inspiration, as are several others--some controlled somatically and some autonomically.

If someone is healthy expiration should be a passive process, requiring no muscle contractions, but sometime your inernal inercostals and abdominal muscles are needed to force air out.

I don't really know what you wanted to learn about the diphragm today, but if that didn't help please let me know. I also didn't look most of this up, so if something seems wrong, it might be. Let me know that too.

Have a good day :)

Re: I actually have NO idea where this question came from

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Hey this is awesome! Thanks so much! And it seems like you're right on everything that I can indentify.

Sorry about distracting you with the fictional piece--it's for a piece of fiction, after all, but I was plumbing for the factual. I can do the fictional. I rely upon you doctor-folk for the factual.

Re: I actually have NO idea where this question came from

[plungerdna.livejournal.com]

anytime, anytime :) more than happy to help because even if I don't know I probably have access to somrthing that will be able to answer the question.