Editing Paralysis (section)

{{Short description|Loss of motor function}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Redirect|Paralyzed|other uses|Paralysed (disambiguation)|and|Paralysis (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Paralytic|the gene|Paralytic (gene)}}
{{Distinguish|Hemiparesis|Numbness|Spasticity|Sensory loss|Spastic hemiplegia}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox medical condition (new)
| name            = Paralysis
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| caption         = [[Christopher Reeve]] who was paralyzed in an accident.
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| field           = [[Neurology]], [[neurosurgery]], [[psychiatry]]
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'''Paralysis''' ({{plural form}}: '''paralyses'''; also known as '''plegia''') is a loss of [[Motor skill|motor]] function in one or more [[Skeletal muscle|muscles]]. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the [[United States]], roughly 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed with some form of permanent or transient paralysis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Paralysis Facts & Figures - Spinal Cord Injury - Paralysis Research Center |url=http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.mtKZKgMWKwG/b.5184189/k.5587/Paralysis_Facts__Figures.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324021033/http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.mtKZKgMWKwG/b.5184189/k.5587/Paralysis_Facts__Figures.htm |archive-date=2016-03-24 |access-date=2013-02-19 |publisher=Christopherreeve.org}}</ref> The word "paralysis" derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] παράλυσις, meaning "disabling of the nerves"<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940 |location=Oxford |chapter=παράλυσις |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpara%2Flusis}} on Perseus</ref> from παρά (''para'') meaning "beside, by"<ref>{{harvnb|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpara%2F παρά]}}</ref> and λύσις (''lysis'') meaning "making loose".<ref>{{harvnb|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dlu%2Fsis λύσις]}}</ref> A paralysis accompanied by involuntary tremors is usually called "[[palsy]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Palsy |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/palsy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724030627/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/palsy |archive-date=July 24, 2012 |access-date=27 May 2015 |publisher=[[Lexico]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Palsy |encyclopedia=[[Merriam-Webster]] |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/palsy |access-date=27 May 2015}}</ref>