Spasm

weiland (weiland(AT)mail.tds.net)
Wed, 26 Mar 1997 11:45:01 -0800

I'm not sure how helpful this will be but I dug out my old (24th
edition) Dorland's Medical Dictionary and found the following:

SPASM, 1. A sudden, violent, involuntary contraction of a muscle or a
group of muscles, attended by pain and interference with function,
producing involuntary movement and distortion. 2. A sudden but
transitory constriction of a passage, canal, or orifice.

SPATIC: 1. Of the nature of or characterized by spasms. 2. Hypertonic,
so that the muscles are still and the movements awkward.

SPASTICITY: A state of increase over the normal tension of a muscle,
resulting in continuous increase of resistance to stretching.