Causes of Dystonia

Causes of dystonia are divided into the following types:

Primary dystonia is thought to be caused by certain pathology of the nervous system, possibly originating from the basal ganglia as well as the GABA that controls motor function.  Primary dystonia is likely to involve some sort of genetic predisposition towards this condition in tandem with environmental factors.

Secondary dystonia is more to do with brain damage or unknown factors like chemical imbalance. Certain cases of dystonia are caused by some drugs or due to disorders of the nervous system like Wilson’s disease. Task-related and environmental factors to kick start the development of certain focal dystonias. This is because they are found disproportionately in persons who execute extremely precise arm movements like engineers, artists, architects, musicians etc. The drug Chlorpromazine might also develop cause dystonia, which is mistaken for seizure.