Is Intravenous Immune Globulin The Answer To Neuropathy Problems

Today's post from kiich.sharedby.co (see link below) is a St Louis Post Despatch, letters-to-the-doctor example, which asks the question whether Intravenous immune globulin is the answer to the neuropathy patient's problem. It's a specific question relating to a specific case but if it's  got you curious as to what IVIG is, then you may want to research further to see if it's a possibility for you.

IVIG is primarily for autoimmune neuropathy 
Dr. K Roach November 06, 2014 12:00 am 
Dr. Keith Roach is a physician at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital.Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, Fla. 32853-6475

Dear Dr. Roach • My brother has been treated for peripheral neuropathy for the past 10 years. He turns 60 in October. After an MRI found a left parietal tumor, he was seen by a prominent neurosurgeon who felt that the tumor had been there since birth and is not connected to the symptoms of pain and decreased sensation in his feet and hands. He is not diabetic, has no cardiovascular problems and does not use alcohol. Basically, all tests come back normal. For now, they just monitor the tumor.

My brother resisted taking any narcotics until three years ago and is now on a long-acting narcotic twice a day. The physicians seem to think this is a genetic/autoimmune problem, and my brother is less inclined to keep searching for help.

My question is: Would a trial of IVIG infusion therapy be reasonable? I don’t know if his bloodwork supports checking his immune status, but I am not sure that the results necessarily would reflect the problem. I have read of IVIG use for some neuropathies, but before I try to get my brother to see a neurologist again, I would like to know if this is a possible therapy to try. — M.S.

Answer • Peripheral neuropathy is one of the most frequent topics I get questions about, but it is very difficult to answer the questions, because there are many different kinds of peripheral neuropathies (“peripheral” means the part of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord, while “neuropathy” simply means that something is wrong with the nerve).

In general, peripheral neuropathies can be broken down into several categories. Diabetes is the most prevalent one I see, but those caused by prolonged alcohol use and HIV are other common types. Some are indeed autoimmune, such as Guillain-Barre. Other toxins besides alcohol, especially chemotherapy, may cause symptoms in the peripheral nerves. There are genetic or hereditary causes that are relatively rare. Other important causes include infection, especially Lyme disease; hypothyroidism; vitamin deficiencies; and amyloidosis. One cause I see rarely is called paraneoplastic, associated with an existing tumor. That is one way the tumor in the parietal area of the brain could possibly cause the neuropathy.

If the underlying condition can be treated, it should be, but it sounds in your brother’s case that despite looking, his doctors haven’t been able to find a cause. About 1/4 of cases of peripheral neuropathy fall into the idiopathic, or unexplained, category. Intravenous immune globulin is used primarily for the autoimmune types of neuropathy. Only his neurologist can say if it’s right for him.

When the underlying condition can’t be treated, then we rely on medications to ease symptoms. While opiates are sometimes needed, most experts try to avoid them, because the body can get used to them over time. Probably the most effective medications for neuropathies are antidepressants (the older tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline) and seizure medicines, such as gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica). I always recommend physical therapy, because movement prevents weakness and may improve symptoms.

http://kiich.sharedby.co/de4d996b4c7488eb/?web=50fca7&dst=http%3A//www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health/to-your-good-health/ivig-is-primarily-for-autoimmune-neuropathy/article_c72824f0-b93e-5e9e-a0ab-8d16292332f1.html

Are These Smart Shoes The Answer For Neuropathic Feet

Today's post from europe.newsweek.com (see link below) promotes something people living with neuropathy have been wanting for decades and that's a shoe that is specifically designed to help them walk without the innate ugliness that characterises most orthopaedic footwear. The reason is that as insoles, they can be fitted inside your own shoes. That said, please don't rejoice too soon - it's only at the prototype stage (haven't we heard that all too often!!). Nevertheless, if the advertising blurb is to be believed than his sort of invention could be invaluable to people in danger of falling or stumbling due to weird nerve signals in their feet. if it's true that you can feel the vibrations where your feet touch the ground, then we may be able to re-train our feet to walk more normally, despite what the neuropathy tells us. Worth keeping an eye out for.

Smart Shoes Help The Elderly and Disabled Walk

By Anthony Cuthbertson On 3/16/16
 
The intelligent insoles and shoes are designed to assist people who suffer from peripheral neuropathy.

Path Feel insoles vibrate the wearer's foot so they know when it is touching the ground.Path

New high-tech shoes and insoles have been developed that can help elderly, ill and disabled people walk without fear of falling over.

Unveiled at the Wearable Technology Show in London on Tuesday, the Path Feel insoles and Path Finder shoes from U.K. startup Walk With Path provide tactile feedback and visual cues to assist walking. 

“If you walk and you don’t have a good feeling of the ground, you’ve got to be very careful, you keep checking every step, you need to look at the ground and see how you put your leg on the ground,” Iddo Wald, a design engineer at Walk With Path, tells Newsweek. “Path gives the confidence needed to walk without falling.

“We had a patient who suffers from a spinal cord injury and actually had no feeling of the ground at all but he could feel the vibration. It’s really exciting.” 

Path's insoles can be fitted into any pair of shoes.Newsweek

The intelligent insoles and shoes are designed to assist people who suffer from peripheral neuropathy—a condition brought about by a wide range of diseases, including diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease.

Pressure sensors in the Path Feel insoles provide haptic feedback that vibrates the wearer’s foot and informs them when it is touching the ground. A companion app also gathers data in the hope of better understanding peripheral neuropathy.

The Path Finder shoes are designed specifically for Parkinson’s patients who suffer from freezing of gait—a disabling clinical phenomenon that prevents people from walking or causes them to walk with extremely short steps. Lasers projected out of the shoes in a green line aim to provide visual clues to help the sufferer focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

According to the National Parkinson Foundation, 38 percent of people with Parkinson’s suffer from falls each year, while AgeUK estimates one-in-the people over the age of 65 fall over. The hope is that both the insoles and the shoes can help bring those numbers down.

Both products are currently in the prototyping stage, with several London universities conducting trials. Early tests have seen some users reducing their freezing of gait by over 50 percent.

http://europe.newsweek.com/smart-shoes-help-elderly-and-disabled-walk-437502