05 August 2008
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Neuropathy, most commonly known as Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition of damaged nerves in the peripheral nervous system. The nerves of the body serve a vital roll in communicating to the brain about the rest of the body. For example, nerve receptors would acknowledge that a finger is burning, carry the message to the brain which retaliates by sending a message to the hand to pull the finger away from the hot surface. As you can image damaged nerves leads to more damage to the body.
Symptoms of Neuropathy
People suffer with Neuropathy without being diagnosed. About 3% of the American population is diagnosed with Neuropathy, but a large 60% of Diabete sufferers develop cases of Neuropathy.
Neuropathy can be experienced in different ways. The symptoms can last from hours to days, months or even years. The damaged nerves will have a reduced ability to circulate blood flow in the affected area; this produces feelings of numbness, tingling, pins and needles, sharp electric pains or muscle twitching. Muscle loss, bone degeneration and changes in hair, skin and nails are results from Neuropathy.
Damaged smaller sensory fibers communicate pain and temperature information to the brain. A person with damaged small sensory fibers might fail to recognize cuts or breaks in the skin that could lead to infection. Or they might miss acute pulmonary pains that are warnings of later heart failure.
Autonomic nerve damage has more serious and life threatening symptoms. The autonomic nerves are those that perform duties that are involuntary, such as pumping blood through vessels, breathing, bladder control, temperature maintenance etc... These symptoms can require emergency assistance with specific treatment and intervention.
Complications
If a person is suffering with Neuropathy they are less likely to notice when they have a problem due to damaged nerves. By daily checking the body a person can locate problems that might arise and prevent infection.
Neuropathy is rarely a result of nothing. Often it is in conjunction with another disease or a poor life style such as excessive usage of alcohol, bad diet or deficient in vitamins.
Treatment and Prevention
Depending on the severity of the condition of Neuropathy will depend on treatment. Improvements in the following areas are generally advised:
Healthy Diet: Lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and Vitamins (especially Vitamin B)
Exercise
Massage affected areas
Avoid repetitious pressure to affected areas
Avoid Cramped areas
Herbal medicine, massage therapy and homeopathic medicine are popular choices that offer natural remedies to help lessen the pain that is associated with Neuropathy.
Neuropathy, most commonly known as Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition of damaged nerves in the peripheral nervous system. The nerves of the body serve a vital roll in communicating to the brain about the rest of the body. For example, nerve receptors would acknowledge that a finger is burning, carry the message to the brain which retaliates by sending a message to the hand to pull the finger away from the hot surface. As you can image damaged nerves leads to more damage to the body.
Symptoms of Neuropathy
People suffer with Neuropathy without being diagnosed. About 3% of the American population is diagnosed with Neuropathy, but a large 60% of Diabetes sufferers develop cases of Neuropathy.
Neuropathy can be experienced in different ways. The symptoms can last from hours to days, months or even years. The damaged nerves will have a reduced ability to circulate blood flow in the affected area; this produces feelings of numbness, tingling, pins and needles, sharp electric pains or muscle twitching. Muscle loss, bone degeneration and changes in hair, skin and nails are results from Neuropathy.
Damaged smaller sensory fibers communicate pain and temperature information to the brain. A person with damaged small sensory fibers might fail to recognize cuts or breaks in the skin that could lead to infection. Or they might miss acute pulmonary pains that are warnings of later heart failure.
Autonomic nerve damage has more serious and life threatening symptoms. The autonomic nerves are those that perform duties that are involuntary, such as pumping blood through vessels, breathing, bladder control, temperature maintenance etc... These symptoms can require emergency assistance with specific treatment and intervention.
Complications
If a person is suffering with Neuropathy they are less likely to notice when they have a problem due to damaged nerves. By daily checking the body a person can locate problems that might arise and prevent infection.
Neuropathy is rarely a result of nothing. Often it is in conjunction with another disease or a poor life style such as excessive usage of alcohol, bad diet or deficient in vitamins.
Treatment and Prevention
Depending on the severity of the condition of Neuropathy will depend on treatment. Improvements in the following areas are generally advised:
Healthy Diet: Lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and Vitamins (especially Vitamin B)
Exercise
Massage affected areas
Avoid repetitious pressure to affected areas
Avoid Cramped areas
Herbal medicine, massage therapy and homeopathic medicine are popular choices that offer natural remedies to help lessen the pain that is associated with Neuropathy.
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