GC: n

S: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3582858/ (last access: 6 January 2016); Merck – http://goo.gl/B2HQOG (last access: 6 January 2016).

N: 1. 1871, from Greek athetos “not fixed, without position or place, set aside” + -osis.
2. Athetosis is an involuntary movement disorder characterized by slow, smooth, sinuous, writhing movements, particularly involving the hands. Since its description in 1871 by American neurologist William Alexander Hammond (1828–1900), and subsequent elaboration by Hammond and his son Graeme Monroe Hammond (1858–1944), the disorder has been a source of controversy, as were many aspects of Hammond’s career, either as US Army Surgeon General during the Civil War or later as a civilian neurologist in New York.
3. Athetosis, slow, purposeless, and involuntary movements of the hands, feet, face, tongue, and neck (as well as other muscle groups). The fingers are separately flexed and extended in an entirely irregular way. The hands as a whole are also moved, and the arms, toes, and feet may be affected. The condition is usually caused by malfunctioning of the basal ganglia of the cerebrum. The movements may or may not continue during sleep. They cannot be arrested for more than a moment by willpower and are aggravated by voluntary movements. .

S: 1. OED – http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=athetosis&allowed_in_frame=0 (last access: 6 January 2016). 2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3582858/ (last access: 6 January 2016). 3. EncBrit – http://www.britannica.com/science/athetosis (last access: 6 January 2016).

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CR: chorea