The Curse of Neuropathy and What to Do About it.

Frequently my waiting room looks like a bad B-Movie. There are all sorts of poor souls, barely able to walk.

Glazed look on their faces from the heavy doses of medications they use to try to quell their nerve pain.

My office is most often the last stop on the train for these folks. By the time they rearch my office they have been just about everywhere else. A family member usually needs to carry their medical records becuase they are too weak to lift them. They are skeptical and often bitter. You can't blame them, however, because the best medical care available has done little to help them. They have the unenviable choice between horrific pain in their feet and legs or a zombie-like drug induced stupor. They want another option, so they consult me. For one more "last chance" to get their life back. They are hoping for one more option beside constantintractable pain and the fog of powerful drugs. Their hopes have been raised and dashed many times before, yet they are willing to try one more thing to find some relief. They suffer from diabetic neuropathy. What is neuropathy? The literal translation of neuropathy means: neuro = pertaining to the nerves and pathy = sickness. So, neuropathy then means "sick nerves".

When nerves get sick people are in big trouble. The nervous system is the master communications network, connecting all systems of the body. It is the communication system that carries information from one part of the body to another. It is what allows organs to communicate and react to changes both inside the body and in the external environment in which the body must function. When nerves are damaged, they either send messages when they are not supposed to or don't send signals when they should. This plays havoc with the complex command and control systems of the body by knocking out proper communications between various organs and tissues. So anything that interferes with the nervous system has far reaching negative affects on a person. To put it simply, sick nerves mean a sick person. Neuropathy is common in the feet, but can occur anywhere in the body. Frequnetly the nerves in the feet are affected first and the symptomstravel up the body. The hands are also commonly affected. Clinically the classic sign of neuropathy is pain and or numbness in a "glove and stocking" pattern. Meaning the patient has pain or numbness in both their hands and their feet.

In severe cases of neuropathy the nerves that control the stomach, heart or other organs can become damaged. This causes all sorts of secondary signs and symptoms, depending on which nerves are damaged and the organs that are controlled by those nerves.

Even when the nerves are starting to regenerate, troublesome symptoms may appear. Once nerves are damaged, they repair by sprouting. These immature nerve sprouts, called rootlets, are very sensitive. They send signals spontaneously and are very sensitive to stimulation. Even a patient's clothes touching the skin in the area of these immature rootlets can cause pain.For a patient to obtain good relief, it is essential to Any hope of pain relief in neuropathy requires that the nerve rootlets mature. Neuropathy is diseases of the nervous system. Despite the fact that this condition affects so many people, the common treatments don't often work.

I would like to share with you the stories of two of my patients. They are actual patients, and have agreed to allow me to discuss their cases, but I will nevertheless change their names, to protect their privacy.

They represent the typical kind of cases of neuropathy treated in our office. Norb is a spry full-of-life 90 year old. He has suffered from diabetes for years. He has kept his diabetes under control and is in remarkable health and good spirits. He still drives and is very active in the community. That was until he developed stinging and burning pain in his feet. Over the next few months his toes turned flaming red.