Janet was thrilled with the improvement she experienced after starting a new medication for Crohn’s disease. However, three months later, she was shocked when her doctor told her the medicine that made her feel so much better was probably the cause of the neuropathy she had developed in her hands and feet.
When medical professionals use the term neuropathy, they’re usually referring to a condition known as peripheral neuropathy. According to The Neuropathy Association, this is a disorder of the peripheral nerves. They’re the motor, sensory and autonomic nerves that form connections between the spinal cord and muscles, skin and internal organs.
Peripheral neuropathy typically strikes the hands and feet. Patients experience weakness, numbness, tingling and pain. The symptoms can wax and wane, slowly progressing over a course of many years. Some cases are severe and become debilitating. However, when neuropathy is diagnosed early, certain therapies can often control it. Some cases can be cured. Others resolve spontaneously when the cause is removed.
Many different things can cause neuropathy. Here are some of the principal causes:
Idiopathic roots. Around 30 percent of neuropathies are diagnosed as idiopathic, meaning they have no known cause.
Medical problems. The Neuropathy Action Foundation reports that a number of medical issues can lead to peripheral neuropathy. Taking a thorough medical history can reveal some of them.
Polyneuropathy occurs when multiple peripheral nerves in the body malfunction at the same time. The peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes is the most common type of polyneuropathy in the United States, with an estimated 15 to 20 million cases.
Autoimmune diseases are also common causes of neuropathy. Examples include lupus erythematosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome, whose victims can quickly become completely paralyzed and dependent on a machine to help them breathe. Most, however, recover well.
Mutations in certain genes can result in peripheral neuropathy. In affected families, up to half the members might suffer from it. In others, only one family member has the condition.
Toxins
The most common culprits are industrial solvents and heavy metals like arsenic and lead. For patients who have no noteworthy on-the-job exposure, the probable cause is a pharmaceutical drug. Certain chemotherapeutic drugs commonly cause peripheral neuropathy. Removing the toxin usually causes the neuropathy to stabilize, then improve.
Since the symptoms and effects of neuropathy can be severe, it’s important to bring any symptoms to a doctor’s attention and to identify the cause as soon as possible.
