- Neuropathy, also known as peripheral neuropathy or peripheral nerve damage, is a disease or injury to the peripheral nerves that prevents the relay of messages from the brain and spinal cord to organs, muscles and glands. Arms and legs may alternate between feeling extremes of hot and cold, with sharp or dull pain and muscle fatigue.
- Nerves relay electrical data between the senses and brain. The nerves branching out from your spinal cord are called peripheral nerves which sense pain, movement, temperature and other sensations. Because peripheral nerves are long and frail, they're more prone to damage. When damaged, the nerves lose sensitivity messages that become scrambled. If something is damaged or goes wrong in a nerve part such as the myelin sheathes, which lines the nerve cells where axons float, it hinders the ability for electric signals to be transmitted properly. On the other hand, something could go wrong in the axon connectors that relay electrical impulses to cellular bodies.
- Although less than 3 percent of the population has neuropathy, about 60 percent of diabetics will eventually develop some form of nerve damage. Nerves can be compared to an electric wire that is enclosed in insulation. One theory connecting diabetes with neuropathy suggests that excessive sugar flowing throughout the body acts with a particular enzyme of the Schwann cells known as aldose redustase. This enzyme converts the sugar into a substance called sorbitol, which pulls water into the Schwann cells, causing swelling. The swelling condition squeezes the nerve which causes pain, damage and numbness. If the process isn't reversed, the Schwann cells, as well as their surrounding nerves can die.
- Neuropathy can be caused by not enough oxygen reaching the nerve cells, causing them to shrink. This creates larger spaces between cells so it's harder for nerve signals to pass through. Symptoms include numbness as the signals are lost. Later pain and a burning sensation are felt as signals that are unable to hurdle the gap buildup and finally explode.
- Next to diabetes, postherpetic neuralgia is a leading cause of neuropathy. A complication of the shingles disease known as postherpetic neuralgia is a painful condition that affects skin and nerve fibers. Other illnesses that can cause neuropathy include mellitus, syphilis, AIDS and kidney diseases. Autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis can also cause nerve damage resulting in neuropathy.
- Vitamin shortages, especially folate and B12 can result in nerve damage leading to neuropathy. Exposure to toxins such as lead, heavy metals, mercury, arsenic, gold and organophosphate pesticides can result in neuropathy. Cancer drugs and antibiotics can be another cause. For example, drugs such as statins that lower cholesterol can reduce the myelin sheath, which is mainly made of cholesterol. High blood pressure medicine can restrict blood flow at the feet or hands.
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