How many muscles are there in the human body?
The human muscular system is composed of approximately 670 muscles. About fifty of them are found in each of the limbs, 170 in the head ad neck, and 200 in the trunk. Approximately a hundred muscles line the various organs of the body.
What are the main skeletal muscles?
The human body consists of three types of muscle tissue. The striated cardiac muscle, or myocardium, is a hollow muscle whose main function is to pump blood into the arteries. Smooth muscles are made up of non-striated muscle fibers. They are found in the walls of the intestines (allowing food passage in the digestive track), the arteries (blood circulation) and other organs. Striated muscles constitute the skeletal muscles which provide movement (locomotion, mimic, maintain posture and change of posture, etc.), under the control of the nervous system.
What role does the nervous system play in relation to movement?
The nervous system directs the body, and movement, by relaying signals through the body. The interpretation of sensory information, movement intention and the coordination of adequate muscle contractions enable the central nervous system to program movements. Muscle activity is controlled by the nervous system.
What are the main characteristics of muscle tissue?
Muscles generate strength and movement.
Muscle tissue has five main characteristics:
- Excitability – ability to perceive and respond to stimuli
- Contractility – ability to shorten with strength as a result of appropriate stimulation
- Elasticity – physical characteristic of muscles, ability to stretch and return to original shape and length
- Extensibility – ability to stretch
- Plasticity – ability to modify its structure depending on the activity and to adapt to a type of effort.
What are the different types of muscle involvements?
They are numerous and concern genetic diseases (neuromuscular diseases), toxicological infections (tetanus, botulism), muscle cancers (muscle sarcoma), trauma caused by sports or accidents (tendinitis, muscle soreness, torn muscles, atrophies, etc.).
What is myology?
Myology can be defined as the knowledge and practices concerning the muscle. Medicine has investigated muscles and muscle contractions from ancient times, yet it is only in recent years that myology has its own identity within the medical and scientific field. By bringing together the study of healthy and pathological muscle in the same place, the Institute of Myology contributes to the emergence of a discipline in itself. Myology covers the study of healthy muscle, myogenesis, muscle diseases, injuries, aging, damage caused by sports, and the study of the physiology and physiopathology of skeletal, smooth, or cardiac muscle fibers.
What is AcadeMYO-Summer School in Myology?
Every year, the Institute of Myology organises a summer school to enable French and foreign healthcare professionals, particularly those working in the French overseas departments and regions and overseas collectivities, to follow a condensed programme covering all neuromuscular pathologies. Eminent specialists from France and abroad give lectures on the following subjects: genetics and molecular biology of neuromuscular diseases, medical management, therapeutic prospects, etc.
What is the link between the study of neuromuscular diseases and myology?
The study of neuromuscular diseases is opening up previously unsuspected areas of muscle physiology. Understanding the role of proteins in neuromuscular pathologies reveals the extraordinary complexity of the muscle cell. As for the study of muscle, it opens the way to highly promising therapeutic potential. Advances in genetic research have given myology a life of its own in the medical and scientific fields in recent years.
Myology covers the study of myogenesis, muscle pathologies, muscle injuries, muscle ageing and sports injuries, as well as the study of the physiology and pathophysiology of skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle fibres.
What is the Institute of Myology?
An international centre of expertise in the neuromuscular field, opened in 1997, the Institute of Myology is unique in that it brings together complementary activities on the same site: clinical, research, teaching and associative activities around a common discipline: myology.
Its aim is to gain a better understanding of muscle, how it works, how it develops, how it regenerates, how it is affected by trauma and pathology, how it ages, and how it can be treated more effectively…
What are the objectives of the Institute of Myology?
The aim of the Institute of Myology is to coordinate fundamental research, applied research, clinical research and teaching around the patient. As a centre of reference and expertise, the Institute of Myology is open to national and international partners. As an information hub, the Institute aims to bring together specialist teams and coordinate the network of neuromuscular disease consultations in France.
What is the mission of the Institute of Myology?
To reach its objectives, the Institute of Myology has set itself the following missions
- To bring research, clinical activities and teaching together in the same place
- To gather performing means of investigation for diagnosis and care;
- To create a centre of expertise and a point of reference on muscle and muscle diseases
- To set up coordinated clinical research programs
- To participate in the development of new therapeutics
- To provide families with adapted reception, support and medical expertise
- To train and inform in order to increase understanding and public awareness of these diseases.
What is the administrative structure of the Institute of Myology?
The entire structure of the Institute of Myology is placed under the medical and scientific direction of Prof. Bertrand Fontaine. The AFM is responsible for coordinating the structure and has appointed a General Secretary, Dr Vincent Varlet. Directly attached to the AFM’s General Management, the Institute of Myology is now the subject of a separate budget presentation to the AFM’s Board of Directors.
What is the Service of Neuro-Myology?
The Service of Neuro-Myology’s area of expertise is the diagnosis of the disease and its complications, therapeutic management, genetic counselling, patient support throughout this process, and clinical research. The service provides multidisciplinary consultations for adults.
It includes two reference centres belonging to the Nord/Est/Ile de France neuromuscular diseases reference centre: the muscular canalopathies reference centre coordinated by Prof. Bertrand Fontaine, and the neuromuscular diseases reference centre coordinated by Dr Tanya Stojkovic.
