Pain in muscle.

Weakness of the muscles of the arms.

Weakness of the muscles of the legs.

Difficulty in swallowing.

Dysarthric speech is a general description referring to a neurological speech disorder characterized by poor articulation. Depending on the involved neurological structures, dysarthria may be further classified as spastic, flaccid, ataxic, hyperkinetic and hypokinetic, or mixed.

Fasciculations are observed as small, local, involuntary muscle contractions (twitching) visible under the skin. Fasciculations result from increased irritability of an axon (which in turn is often a manifestation of disease of a motor neuron). This leads to sporadic discharges of all the muscle fibers controlled by the axon in isolation from other motor units.

Upturning of the big toe (and sometimes fanning of the other toes) in response to stimulation of the sole of the foot. If the Babinski sign is present it can indicate damage to the corticospinal tract.

The term gait disturbance can refer to any disruption of the ability to walk.

A diagnostic reflex elicited by stimulation of the skin over the surface of the lateral malleolus of the foot. The Chaddock refelx is present if there is extension of one or more or all of the toes with or without fanning of them when the external inframalleolar skin is stimulated. The Chaddock sign, similar to the Babinski sign, is taken to be an indication of disease of the spinocortical (pyramidal) tract.

Diminution of tendon reflexes, which is an invariable sign of peripheral nerve disease.

Reduced strength of muscles.

Reduced ability to climb stairs.

The presence of skeletal muscular atrophy (which is also known as amyotrophy).

Presence of abnormal vacuoles (membrane-bound organelles) in the sarcolemma. On histological staining with hematoxylin and eosin, rimmed vacuoles are popcorn-like clear vacuoles with a densely blue rim. The vacuoles are often associated with cytoplasmic and occasionally intranuclear eosinophilic inclusions.

An abnormal distribution of muscle fiber types in muscle tissue. Human skeletal muscle contains at least two fiber types recognizable by histochemical techniques. In transverse sections of normal skeletal muscle, type 1 and type 2 fibers are distributed in a random fashion. Grouping of fibers of the same type can be seen in certain peripheral neuropathies, thought to be due to reinnervation of denervated muscle fibers by sprouting axons. With grouping, motor units enlarge. The fibers of a motor unit, which are normally scattered, come to lie adjacent to one another. Histochemical examination shows groups of muscle fibers of the same histochemical type.

A severe form of respiratory insufficiency characterized by inadequate gas exchange such that the levels of oxygen or carbon dioxide cannot be maintained within normal limits.