It's named after the patron saint of dancers. Sydenham's chorea results from childhood infection with Group A beta-haemolytic Streptococcus and is reported to occur in 20–30% of people with acute rheumatic fever. My doctor has never heard of it. My father had what was called St. Vitus Dance. I take Clonazepan 1mg twice daily. Father died at 45 by suicide. First it was my right hand and now my left hand. St. John’s Dance, known historically as St. Vitus Dance, was a social phenomenon involving a type of dance mania that gripped mainland Europe between the 14 th and 17 th centuries. St. Vitus' dance — Another name for Sydenham's chorea. St. Vitus was a fourth-century martyr who became the patron saint of dancers and actors during the Middle Ages. In 1374, on the streets of Aachen, Germany, people started dancing involuntarily. The exchange occurred recently, although the association of the saint and his dance had a long evolution. My symptons are shaking of my hands when I pick up anything. Also called Sydenham's chorea. During the Middle Ages, the church held that the dancers had been possessed by the devil or perhaps cursed by a saint. Pronounced As: kr, ko- or St. Vitus's dance, acute disturbance of the central nervous system characterized by involuntary muscular movements of the face and extremities. St. Vitus is the patron saint of epileptics, dancers, and actors. A disorder in which dramatic muscle spasms can look like dancing. In other times and other forms the mania started to be called St. Vitus' dance. St. Vitus dance: Another name for Sydenham chorea. St Vitus’s Dance Vitus is best known as the saint to invoke for those suffering from epilepsy and nervous diseases. In the current nomenclature Saint Vitus' dance or chorea (from the Greek χορεíα for dance) has been largely displaced by the eponym Sydenham‘s chorea. St Vitus’s Dance – also called Sydenham’s chorea (= dance) and Huntington’s chorea – is one of a series of abnormal movement disorders known as diskinesias. As unbelievable as it seems, it happened repeatedly in the area along the Rhine. This phenomenon is called dance mania, the dancing plague, or St John's Dance (sometimes St. Vitus' Dance) as it was considered to be a curse sent by a saint. He was also invoked for protection against nervous disorders, epilepsy, and the disease that bears his name. One of the most well-known major outbreaks took place in Aachen, Germany, on the 24 th of June 1374, just several decades after the Black Death swept across Europe. st. virus's dance, characterized by people suddenly going into convulsions, jumping around, and dancing, was also known as: tarantism "mass madness" is a general term that includes all of the following disorders common in the middle ages in europe EXCEPT: tarantism, lycanthropy, exorcism, or St. Vitus's dance Sydenham's chorea, also known as chorea minor and historically and occasionally referred to as St Vitus' dance, is a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands and feet. No shaking while at rest. St. Vitus's Dance is a disorder of the nervous system that occurs following an A beta-haemolytic streptococcal infection. I have fallen several times in the yard without injury. 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