Many diseases can cause muscle spasms. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health or NIH, muscle spasms are an involuntary and sometimes painful contraction of skeletal muscles. The NIH states that muscle spasms can occur anywhere throughout the body and that muscle spasms often arise following a muscle injury or overuse. However, some muscle spasms are caused by serious underlying diseases and require medical intervention.
Cholera
Cholera is a disease that can cause muscle spasms. According to Mayoclinic.com, cholera is caused by bacteria, spreads through contaminated water, causes severe diarrhea and dehydration and can kill a person in several hours if it's not treated. Although the last cholera outbreak in the United States happened in 1911, the disease is still a problem in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, India and sub-Saharan Africa. Mayoclinic.com states that most people infected by the cholera bacteria do not develop the signs and symptoms associated with the disease. In fact, only one in 10 people develop cholera-related signs and symptoms. Common signs and symptoms of the disease include the following: severe, watery diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, dehydration and muscle spasms or cramps. According to Mayoclinic.com, cholera-related muscle cramps are caused by the rapid depletion of sodium, chloride and potassium from the body.
Chorea
Chorea is a disease that can cause muscle spasms. The National institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke or NINDS--a division of the National Institutes of Health--states that chorea is a movement disorder and is one of a group of neurological disorders known as dyskinesias that are caused by excessive dopamine--a neurotransmitter--activity in the portion of the brain that controls motor function or movement. According to the NINDS, chorea is characterized by involuntary muscle spasms or contractions that seemingly flow from muscle to muscle, and that it's often accompanied by athetosis or slow, writhing movements. The NINDS states that there is no typical course of treatment for chorea and that both the treatment and the prognosis for chorea largely depend on the type of chorea a person has and any underlying disease.
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis is a disease that can cause muscle spasms. According to the World Health Organization or WHO, poliomyelitis, or simply polio, is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that invades a person's nervous system, and the polio virus can cause total paralysis in just a few hours. WHO states that the polio virus enters a person's body through the mouth and multiplies in her intestines. Common early symptoms of polio include the following: fatigue, headache, vomiting, neck stiffness and limb pain. About 1 in 200 people will experience irreversible paralysis, and of the people who experience paralysis, about 5 to 10 percent will succumb due to paralyzed respiratory muscles. According to the NIH, there are three principle types of polio: subclinical infections, non-paralytic and paralytic. Two of these, non-paralytic and paralytic, involve muscle spasms or contractions throughout the body.
