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Neuropathy
By Birgitte Neal, PTA Student|
Edited by Dyan Quesada, MPT, ATC
What is neuropathy?
It is a disease of the nerves that supply and run throughout the body.
What causes nerve damage?
Many different things, such as disease, injury, poisoning, or malnutrition can cause nerve damage.
Are certain types of nerves affected with neuropathy?
Peripheral nerves (nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord) are most commonly affected. There are three types of peripheral nerves:
1. Motor nerves: Carry signals to the muscles that allow motions such as walking and
arm movement.
2. Sensory nerves: Carry information back to the brain such as smell, warmth, cold,
and also pain.
3. Autonomic nerves: Responsible for controlling some of our organs (e.g. heart
rate, blood pressure, and the amount that we sweat.)
What are the symptoms?
Pain, described as stabbing, crushing, or shooting is common. Unpleasant sensations such as tingling, numbness, itchiness, and burning may also occur. When motor nerves are affected over a prolonged period of time, muscle weakness and atrophy occurs. Damage to autonomic nerves can result in feeling light-headed, changes in blood pressure, or an irregular heart beat.
Why are diabetics at high risk of developing neuropathy?
In diabetes, small blood vessels of the body are damaged due to high levels of blood sugar, which results in nerve and tissue damage. Unfortunately, neuropathy often occurs in diabetics before the patient is aware that there might be a problem. By the time patients feel pain, tissue and nerve damage has already occurred.
Nearly 60% of all people with diabetes suffer from neuropathy. Diabetic Neuropathy is the cause of 50-70% of all amputations in the U.S. It is very important for diabetic persons to continuously check on the condition of their lower legs and feet.
References
www.lef.org/protocols
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