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Neuropathy Information & Treatment |
Alcoholic Neuropathy: decreased nerve functioning caused by nerve damage that results from drinking excessive alcohol. The symptoms are similar to other neuropathies. Angiopathic neuropathy - caused by arteritis (inflammation of the walls of the arteries, usually as a result of infection or auto-immune response) of the blood vessels supplying the nerves, usually a systemic complication of disease. Axonal Neuropathy (Axonopathy): Axons are described as a bunch of neurons or nerves. Axonal neuropathy can be either only sensory or a combination of sensory and motor. Its symptoms include the loss of sensation of pain and temperature, as well as spontaneous painful neuropathy. Autonomic Neuropathy occurs when there is damage to nerves that regulate blood pressure, heart rate, bowel and bladder emptying, digestion, and other body functions. Symptoms vary according to the nerve affected. It may affect the digestive system, heart, urinary tract, etc. Symptoms from this type of damage include abnormal blood pressure and heart rate, reduced ability to perspire, constipation, bladder dysfunction (e.g., incontinence), and sexual dysfunction Auditory Neuropathy (AN): is a hearing disorder in which sound enters the inner ear normally but the transmission of signals from the inner ear to the brain is impaired. It can fluctuate from day to day. People with auditory neuropathy may have normal hearing, or hearing loss ranging from mild to severe; they always have poor speech-perception abilities, meaning they have trouble understanding speech clearly. Often, speech perception is worse than would be predicted by the degree of hearing loss. For example, a person with auditory neuropathy may be able to hear sounds, but would still have difficulty recognizing spoken words. Sounds may fade in and out for these individuals and seem out of sync. Bicycle Seat Neuropathy Injury reported by cyclists due to supporting the body weight on a narrow seat. Compression of the pudendal nerve between the bicycle seat and the pelvic bones is believed to be the main cause of the symptoms which includes numbness and pain and is usually temporary. Charcot Marie Tooth Disease – CMT Disease – also known as hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN) or peroneal muscular atrophy, comprises a group of disorders that affect peripheral nerves. A typical feature includes weakness of the foot and lower leg muscles, which may result in foot drop and a high-stepped gait with frequent tripping or falls. Foot deformities, such as high arches and hammertoes (a condition in which the middle joint of a toe bends upwards) are also characteristic due to weakness of the small muscles in the feet. In addition, the lower legs may take on an "inverted champagne bottle" appearance due to the loss of muscle bulk. Later in the disease, weakness and muscle atrophy may occur in the hands, resulting in difficulty with fine motor skills. Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Chemotherapy drugs are poisons that attack fast growing cells (rapidly dividing cells).. The theory behind using these toxins is that it will destroy the fast growing cancer cells before it does too much damage to normal cells. Chemotherapy is hardest on the nervous system due to the fact that nerve cells are more sensitive than other cells. Nerve cells are more sensitive to these toxins then other cells and thus they are often affected and can be damaged easily. This is the also reason for nerve damage to the brain, also known as "chemo fog" or "chemo-brain", and the peripheral neuropathy side effects of chemotherapy treatment. After exposure to the chemotherapy drugs, the cells that responsible for producing myelin, the fatty substance that helps insulate and protect nerve conducting fibers, can become damaged. Chronic Immune Demyelinating Neuropathy (CIDN) or Critical Illness Polyneuropathy Critical illness neuropathy is damage of the peripheral nerves, occurring as a complication of severe trauma or infection (critical illness). It develops while patients are in the intensive care unit and it is typically diagnosed by limb weakness and unexplained difficulty in weaning from mechanical ventilation. Diabetic Neuropathy Diabetic nerve damage and the pain is caused by too much sugar in the blood. The sugar hurts the nerve cell's outer sheath. .(the protective outer cover) Demyelinating Neuropathy nerve damage that involves demyelination, or the loss of the lipid myelin sheath that surrounds nerve cells and is necessary for proper neural conduction. This is true of any nerve damage, but when it is inflammatory it is referred to as CIDP for chronic inflammatory deymyelinating neuropathy Entrapment Neuropathy Entrapment neuropathy (neuralgia, neuritis, pinched or trapped nerve) is caused by physical compression or irritation of major nerve trunks and peripheral nerves, producing distant nerve pain symptoms. Certain sites in the body are more likely to produce nerve entrapment because of anatomical vulnerability Guillain Barre is an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP), an autoimmune disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system, usually triggered by an acute infectious process. Hereditary Motor & Sensory Neuropathy (HMSN) any of a group of hereditary poly neuropathies involving muscle weakness, atrophy, sensory deficits, and vasomotor changes in the lower limbs. Hereditary Optic Neuropathy - See Leber's Inflammatory Neuropathy Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a neurological disorder characterized by slowly progressive weakness and a loss of sensation in the legs and arms. CIDP is more common in young adults, and it affects men more than women. Ischemic Optic Neuropathy, Also Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropahty (AIOP) Optic Nerve Disorders loss of vision due to damage of the optic nerve usually from insufficient blood supply Can be a vascular neuropathy or not. Ischemic Neuropathy - an injury to a peripheral nerve caused by a reduction in blood supply. Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy - an inherited disorder of ATP manufacture, usually in males, that progresses on both sides and usually with loss of central vision that many go away spontaneously. Metabolic Neuropathies – Metabolic neuropathies is nerve damage that occur with diseases that disrupt the chemical processes in the body. It can refer to diabetic neuropathy, low blood sugar damage, kidney failure, thyroid disease, infection and vitamin deficiencies including B12, B6, E, and B1. Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN) is a demyelinating peripheral neuropathy (PN). The condition is slowly progressive and usually has asymmetric distal weakness in the upper extremities. It affects men more often than women and, in most cases, will cause symptoms before age 45. The clinical signs of MMN may resemble a motor neuron disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), making diagnosis challenging. Multiple Mononeuropathy (mononeuritis multiplex) is the simultaneous malfunction of two or more peripheral nerves in separate areas of the body. It causes abnormal sensation and weakness. Multiple mononeuropathy typically affects only a few nevers, often in different areas of the body. In contrast, poloyneuropathy affects many nerves. Multiple Neuropathy - see Polyneuropathy and Multiple Mononeuropathy Muscle Motor Neurons Neuropathy: refers to nerve damage which effects the motor nerves of the body which results in the common symptoms associated with damage to the motor nerve are muscle weakness, cramps, and spasms. Loss of balance and coordination may also occur. Peripheral Neuropathy - a condition in which many peripheral nerves are afflicted with nerve damage. Polyneuropathy - a generalized disorder of peripheral nerves .neuropathy of several peripheral nerves simultaneously. See amyloid polyneuropathy Pressure Neuropathy "Pinching" a nerve by putting too much pressure on it. For example, the sciatic nerve may be painfully compressed by a ruptured disc in the lower spine, causing sciatica. Pressure neuropathy is also called nerve compression. Progressive hypertropic neuropathy - a slowly progressive familial disease beginning in early life. It it causes thickening of peripheral nerve trunks and sclerosis of the posterior columns of the spinal cord. Sarcoid Neuropathy - a polyneuropathy sometimes seen in sarcoidosis (involves inflammation that produces tiny lumps of cells in various organs in your body) , characterized by either cranial or spinal nerve problems. Sensory Neuropathy Nerve damage which affects the sensory nerves of the body and thus the sense of touch. . Damage to the sensory nerve can produce tingling, numbness, and pain. Pain associated with this nerve is described in various ways such as the following: sensation of wearing an invisible "glove" or "sock", burning, freezing, or electric-like, extreme sensitivity to touch. Tomaculous Neuropathy - an inherited neuropathy characterized by pain, weakness, and pressure palsy in the arms and hands, with swelling of the myelin sheath (the lining of the nerve). Toxic Neuropathy - nerve damage due to ingestion of a toxin. Trigeminal neuralgia (also known as tic douloureux), in which damage to the trigeminal nerve (the large nerve of the head and face) causes episodic attacks of excruciating, lightning-like pain on one side of the face. Vascular Neuropathy: Vascular neuropathy is nerve damage of the autonomic nerves that control the blood vessels, leading them not to properly constrict and expand to control blood pressure. Symptoms are low blood pressure (hypotension) and feeling faint on standing.
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