There
are hundreds of causes of neuropathy,
known and unknown. Yet with
peripheral neuropathy the attitude
is that it is just a symptom
of an illness and not therefore
a disease.
The point is that by 2000 (three decades plus of symptoms) I was severely disabled having lost two great careers because peripheral neuropathy was only a symptom of something else. Sounds good, but If you do not have what is claimed causes neuropathy, it is too often assumed you must not be ill or have neuropathy! For four decades that was the conclusion and attitude for my symptoms. Lack of proof of a connection is NOT proof there is none; it only means we need to do the homework of research.
Unfortunately, approximately 30% of all neuropathies are “idiopathic,” or of an unknown cause. Our challenge is to decrease this number by building better attitudes in the medical schools, increasing awareness, conducting more research, and providing better clinical training for doctors and tools for diagnosis and treatment.
In another 30% of cases, the cause is diabetes. This may be due to the fact that we have limited understanding and tools to diagnosis all causes, driving this perception about diabetes higher on a percentage basis. For example, one of the major symptoms recently understood of amyloidosis, especially in veterans exposed to Agent Orange, is idiopathic peripheral neuropathy and testing is not done because we hold onto the observed clinical entities for too long, as in you must be diabetic to have these symptoms. I have observed that diseases you cannot diagnosis are usually rare.
Other causes of neuropathy include autoimmune disorders, tumors, heredity, nutritional imbalances, infections or toxins, but the list is even longer. One of the best sources for patients to understand the causes of the neuropathies is Dr. Norman Latov’s book listed in the resource section on this web site.
If we address the cause, motor, autonomic and sensory symptoms, this approach may help cure or reduce the impact of the neuropathy preventing serious disabilities. However, we must understand that research MUST be done if we are to force changes to the observed and assumed clinical entities important to research and a clinical approach to treatments. Assumptions without research die hard. Too often doctors stop short of performing the testing necessary due to old assumptions, poor attitudes toward neuropathy, limited treatment options, the insurance pressure to process patients, restrictions on payments for testing, lack of diagnostic tools or clinical training, or just the general failure to understand the potential serious impact of this undiagnosed and undertreated disease.
Yet even in this world of uncertainty for the patient and the doctor, it is important that patients increase their knowledge so they may work as a partner with the doctor until research provides better answers.
The point is that by 2000 (three decades plus of symptoms) I was severely disabled having lost two great careers because peripheral neuropathy was only a symptom of something else. Sounds good, but If you do not have what is claimed causes neuropathy, it is too often assumed you must not be ill or have neuropathy! For four decades that was the conclusion and attitude for my symptoms. Lack of proof of a connection is NOT proof there is none; it only means we need to do the homework of research.
Unfortunately, approximately 30% of all neuropathies are “idiopathic,” or of an unknown cause. Our challenge is to decrease this number by building better attitudes in the medical schools, increasing awareness, conducting more research, and providing better clinical training for doctors and tools for diagnosis and treatment.
In another 30% of cases, the cause is diabetes. This may be due to the fact that we have limited understanding and tools to diagnosis all causes, driving this perception about diabetes higher on a percentage basis. For example, one of the major symptoms recently understood of amyloidosis, especially in veterans exposed to Agent Orange, is idiopathic peripheral neuropathy and testing is not done because we hold onto the observed clinical entities for too long, as in you must be diabetic to have these symptoms. I have observed that diseases you cannot diagnosis are usually rare.
Other causes of neuropathy include autoimmune disorders, tumors, heredity, nutritional imbalances, infections or toxins, but the list is even longer. One of the best sources for patients to understand the causes of the neuropathies is Dr. Norman Latov’s book listed in the resource section on this web site.
If we address the cause, motor, autonomic and sensory symptoms, this approach may help cure or reduce the impact of the neuropathy preventing serious disabilities. However, we must understand that research MUST be done if we are to force changes to the observed and assumed clinical entities important to research and a clinical approach to treatments. Assumptions without research die hard. Too often doctors stop short of performing the testing necessary due to old assumptions, poor attitudes toward neuropathy, limited treatment options, the insurance pressure to process patients, restrictions on payments for testing, lack of diagnostic tools or clinical training, or just the general failure to understand the potential serious impact of this undiagnosed and undertreated disease.
Yet even in this world of uncertainty for the patient and the doctor, it is important that patients increase their knowledge so they may work as a partner with the doctor until research provides better answers.
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