In this disease, nerves lose their function. The most common cause is diabetes! What is polyneuropathy? What are the 4 most common symptoms? What are the treatment methods?
The nervous system, which surrounds the human body like a network, can be damaged by diseases such as diabetes, cancer and rheumatism. The deterioration in the nervous system that occurs due to polyneuropathy is manifested by numbness in the hands and feet at the extreme points of the body. It is important to determine the underlying disorder in order to treat the disease that occurs as a result of polyneuropathy.
Neurologists shared important information about polyneuropathy and treatment methods.
Nerves lose their functions
Damage to several nerves that form part of the peripheral nervous system at the same time is called polyneuropathy. Neurological losses occur in polyneuropathies, a disease that causes the nerves in the body to lose their functions. The nervous system consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.
Peripheral nervous system; It is a nerve network that carries signals to the limbs and organs through nerve roots, nerve bundles (plexuses) and peripheral nerves originating from the spinal cord. The damage to the nerves caused by this problem usually starts at the farthest end of the brain. The condition worsens due to loss of sensation starting in the toes and fingers and extending upwards, and decreased movement in the foot and hand muscles. While poly means multiplicity, neuro means nerve damage. The incidence of polyneuropathy increases with age.
The most common cause is diabetes
There are many underlying reasons for the formation of polyneuropathy. One of the most common causes is diabetes. Apart from this, polyneuropathy can also be seen in other metabolic, infectious and genetic diseases. In addition, various reasons such as excessive alcohol consumption, chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of cancer patients, cancer, infection, kidney and liver failure and heavy metal poisoning can cause polyneuropathy. The diagnosis of polyneuropathy is made by the patient’s complaints, clinical examination, laboratory tests and EMG (electromyography) test.
EMG is an indispensable diagnostic method in the diagnosis of polyneuropathy. In this method, by connecting cables to the patient’s arms and legs and giving low doses of electrical stimulation, the thickness of the peripheral nerves, whether the nerve sheath is damaged or not, and whether the electrical current of the nerve is normal are evaluated. If necessary, a needle is used to evaluate the condition of the muscles during the EMG test for differential diagnosis in polyneuropathy patients.
Symptoms of polyneuropathy:
- Patients with polyneuropathy may experience numbness, felting, burning, numbness, or pain in their hands and/or feet.
- Symptoms related to muscle strength are also observed in these patients, such as weakness in the hands and feet, gait disturbance, and the inability to make a fist.
- In areas affected by the disease, muscle wasting, slow healing wounds, hair loss on arms or legs, shape changes (deformation) in hands and feet, changes or breakage of nails may occur.
- In patients with advanced polyneuropathy, bedsore-like wounds and even gangrene may develop on the feet.
The underlying cause of polyneuropathy is important in treatment
Treatment of polyneuropathy is carried out depending on the underlying causes. Since the most common type of polyneuropathy is due to diabetes, it is important to keep blood sugar under control. If diabetes is the case, it is recommended to use painkillers and medications that can repair nerve damage, if necessary, to address the patient’s complaints.
Similarly, polyneuropathies seen in chronic renal failure are due to metabolic causes and toxic substances accumulated in the body. Medications given to remove these substances from the body and, if necessary, dialysis contribute to the recovery of polyneuropathy. Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment for genetic polyneuropathies and most treatments are still at the experimental stage. Here, patient-specific physical therapy and symptomatic treatment can be applied to reduce the patient’s complaints.
References:
Sommer C, Geber C, Young P, Forst R, Birklein F, Schoser B. Polyneuropathies. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2018 Feb 9;115(6):83-90. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2018.083. PMID: 29478436; PMCID: PMC5832891. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5832891/