Weight Bearing Exercise Can Be Dangerous For Neuropathy Patients

Today's post from huffingtonpost.com (see link below) looks at the problems that certain forms of exercise may bring the neuropathy patient who has lost most of the feeling in their feet. These problems are not to be underestimated but it's important to say here that the vast majority of neuropathy patients have some feeling in their feet, despite the numbness that can affect the toes and pads of the foot. These patients are unlikely to step on a nail and not feel something. That said, many people living with neuropathy feel very little and this can certainly lead to serious accidents. When this is the case, load-bearing exercises can be more dangerous than helpful. Nevertheless the article recommends exercise as being essential, as long as this is controlled and the feet are carefully and regularly monitored. The article is aimed at diabetic neuropathy patients but applies to all people living with neuropathy and foot problems.

Type 2 Diabetes and Peripheral Neuropathy: To Walk or Not to Walk?
 
Milt Bedingfield Posted: 05/11/2015 

It is now well known that engaging in light to moderate physical activity on a regular basis is of significant value for most people that have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. In fact the American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes should get a minimum of 150 minutes of light to moderate exercise per week including aerobic and resistance training.

What the ADA says...

It has also been recommended that people with peripheral diabetic neuropathy that have reduced or absent feeling in their feet should not engage in any form of weight bearing exercise activity. The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy should limit the amount of weight-bearing physical activity they perform due to their increased risk of foot ulcers and amputation (1, 2). This is based on the fact that with peripheral neuropathy there is either a decreased ability or total inability in the feet to feel pain or discomfort.

As an example, standing barefoot on hot asphalt maybe in a parking lot in the middle of the summer would be very uncomfortable for someone with normal sensation in their feet, however go unnoticed for someone with peripheral neuropathy. Similarly, the person with peripheral neuropathy may develop a painful nickel-sized blister after walking too far or when wearing new shoes and not even feel it. Without daily inspection of the ankles and feet (which a lot of people do not do) this blister could go unnoticed for days resulting in a potentially infected, slow to heal, or non-healing wound. In the worst case this could lead to an amputation. All of this is the result of losing what is called the protective sensation in the feet.

In the absence of peripheral neuropathy whenever there is insult to the foot or feet such as a blister, a cut or scrape or stepping on a small piece of glass or nail, there would be pain which would cause you to notice the injury and hopefully treat the wound accordingly.

There are also painful stages of neuropathy that can precede lack of sensation which are characterized by frequent but intermittent pain in the feet throughout the day, having pain only in the evening while in bed to constant pain. This stage of neuropathy can result in changing the way you walk, that is your stride length, which part of your feet you strike the ground with first and ultimately what part of your feet support your body weight.

Because of everything I have just mentioned above this leads to the unfortunately recommendation that discourages walking for a great many people with diabetes.

To Walk or Not to Walk?

So where does that leave us? Exercise is arguably the best treatment there is, particularly in controlling Type 2 diabetes, and preventing diabetes related complications, such as peripheral neuropathy, however once you have peripheral neuropathy in your feet you should avoid doing any weight bearing exercise.

I have wrestled with the dilemma for years about how to guide my patients that would benefit immensely from starting to exercise or increasing their exercise however have various stages of neuropathy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2000-2002, approximately 60 percent of lower-extremity amputations in the United States were diabetes-related, with the majority of those amputations being preceded by a foot ulcer (3). Almost all diabetic foot ulcers occur in those people that have lost feeling in their feet due to diabetic peripheral neuropathy (4, 5).

On the other hand poorly controlled blood glucose control contributes greatly to peripheral neuropathy.

Eight-year cardiovascular mortality is 34 percent lower among people with diabetes who walk two hours per week compared with non-walkers (6).

Feet First Randomized Controlled Trial

The Feet First Randomized Controlled Trial was designed to look at the effect of weight-bearing activity on foot ulcer incidence in people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The study, conducted over a 12-month period by Lemaster and colleagues, showed that participants in the Feet First intervention group achieved a modest increase in activity, with no increase in foot lesions, compared with those in the control group. The group also recommended additional research be conducted in this area to investigate the current guidelines and close supervision for patients with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy (7).

Tuttle and colleagues found that people with Type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy experienced no negative consequences when performing moderate-intensity, weight-bearing exercise in their study (2).

Dr. Sheri Colberg reports in her article "Exercising with Peripheral Neuropathy" that recent descriptive studies suggest that patients with a lack of feeling in their feet who participate in daily weight-bearing activity are at decreased risk of foot ulceration compared with those who are less active (8, 9), especially if their daily routine is very similar with little variation from day to day regarding their physical activity (9, 10).

As a result of the above information, I am going to continue evaluating each of my class participants on a case by case basis, however, for those patients with peripheral neuropathy that I believe will be prudent in checking their feet and following the recommended foot care guidelines and stand to gain significant benefit from performing some weight bearing exercise, I will be more likely to recommend it to them.

References:

1. Singh, N., D. G. Armstrong, and B. A. Lipsky: Preventing foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. JAMA 293 (2):217-228, 2005

2. Tuttle, L. J., M. K. Hastings, and M. J. Mueller: A moderate-intensity weight-bearing exercise program for a person with Type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. Phys Ther 92 (1):133-141, 2012

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. History of foot ulcer among persons with diabetes -- United States, 2000-2002. MMWR. 2003;52:1098-1102. Medline

4. Pham H, Armstrong DG, Harvey C, et al. Screening techniques to identify people at high risk for diabetic foot ulceration: a prospective multicenter trial. Diabetes Care. 2000;23:606-611.

5. Reiber GE, Smith DG, Wallace C, et al. Effect of therapeutic footwear on foot reulceration in patients with diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002;287:2552-2558. CrossRefMedline

6. Gregg EW, Gerzoff RB, Caspersen CJ, et al. Relationship of walking to mortality among US adults with diabetes. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:1440-1447. CrossRefMedline

7. Lemaster, J. W., M. J. Mueller, G. E. Reiber, D. R. Mehr, R. W. Madsen, and V. S. Conn: Effect of weight-bearing activity on foot ulcer incidence in people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy: feet first randomized controlled trial. Phys Ther 88 (11):1385-1398, 2008

8. Richerson, S., and K. Rosendale: Does tai chi improve plantar sensory ability? A pilot study. Diabetes Tech Ther 9(3):276-286, 2007

9. Ko, S. U., S. Stenholm, C. W. Chia, E. M. Simonsick, and L. Ferrucci: Gait pattern alterations in older adults associated with type 2 diabetes in the absence of peripheral neuropathy--results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Gait Posture 34 (4):548-552, 2011

10. Kanade, R. V., R. W. van Deursen, K. Harding, and P. Price: Walking performance in people with diabetic neuropathy: benefits and threats. Diabetologia 49 (8):1747-1754, 2006

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/milt-bedingfield/post_9394_b_7188266.html

Lyrica Once Again Shown To Be Ineffective

Today's post from vancouversun.com (see link below) will come as no surprise to may neuropathy patients who have been both disappointed by the ineffectiveness of pregabalin (Lyrica) and damaged by its side-effects. The fact is that it rarely works for neuropathic pain. However, because of aggressive marketing, it's the world's number one treatment for nerve pain! To be fair to Pfizer, they did withdraw their own recommendation for Lyrica for many disease-related neuropathies in March 2013 but that was forced by litigation and so much protest that it was inevitable. The FDA's warnings about the drug were that last straw. So why is it still so widely prescribed, despite the inherent dangers of side effects? Who knows! Apparently the marketing goes on and unscrupulous drugs company reps will prioritise getting rid of current supplies as quickly as possible. If you are prescribed Lyrica (pregabalin) for your neuropathic symptoms, please have a serious discussion with your doctor and maybe try to arrange an alternative. This article highlights the dangers if you don't.

Common drug for diabetic foot pain isn’t effective, B.C. researchers say
Erin Ellis, Vancouver Sun 01.18.2016

A report by the Therapeutics Initiative at UBC suggests Lyrica only helps about one in 10 of the people to whom it is prescribed.JB REED / BLOOMBERG NEWS

A pain medication that rarely works as promised had a 17-fold increase in prescriptions over a decade, says the latest research from the Therapeutics Initiative at the University of B.C.

Its report says only about one in 10 patients will gain relief from pregabalin (trade name Lyrica), which is used to treat peripheral neuropathy — usually foot pain caused by diabetes — and other discomfort. Therapeutics Initiative is think-tank that reviews the usefulness of prescribed drugs and offers advice to B.C.’s doctors and pharmacists.

The latest work released Tuesday concludes that pregabalin, and two other painkillers studied, gabapentin and duloxetine (Cymbalta), all have little effect on pain despite extensive marketing campaigns promoting them.

Co-author Dr. Tom Perry, a clinical assistant professor in the department of anesthesiology, pharmacology and therapeutics at UBC, says doctors often tell patients to take these medications in higher doses and for a longer time than the evidence supports. Patients should know within days whether the medications are working for them, he says.

“These drugs are intended to make someone feel better; if you’re not feeling better, why take it?”

Perry and co-author Aaron Tejani, a clinical assistant professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, looked information on gabapentin, pregabalin and a number of other medications gathered by Cochrane Reviews which evaluate scientific research from around the world. They found expectations of the drugs’ effectiveness far outstripped the evidence and likely drives an increasing number of prescriptions.

In B.C., pregabalin prescriptions rose 17 fold from 2005 through 2014, compared with a 1.8-fold increase in people receiving gabapentin.

Gabapentin is now available as a generic drug, but was formerly trademarked medication called Neurontin manufactured by Pfizer. The pharmaceutical giant agreed to pay $430 million in U.S. fines in 2004 after marketing it for unapproved uses such as migraine headaches and pain.

Combined costs of gabapentin, pregabalin, and duloxetine were over $52 million in British Columbia during 2014, says the Therapeutics Initiative report, of which Pharmacare paid over $13 million, mostly for gabapentin.

Pregabalin, also manufactured by Pfizer for neuropathic pain, is not covered under B.C.’s publicly funded Pharmacare following a recommendation by a national drug advisory committee in 2005. As a result, patients either pay for it out-of-pocket or through private health insurance,

Worse than simply buying a medication that’s not working, Perry says pregabalin is often prescribed to older adults who may become drowsy or lose their balance because of it.

Therapeutics Initiative is funded by the B.C. Ministry of Health through a grant to UBC.

eellis@vancouversun.com

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/common+drug+diabetic+foot+pain+effective+researchers/11662999/story.html

New Drugs To Be Targeted At Pain Receptors Deep In The Nerve Cell

Today's post from sciencedaily.com (see link below) may at first sight seem a little difficult to understand but basically, when the body experiences pain, there are pain receptors on the surface of nerve cells that identify it and transmit the information further and let you feel that pain. If the pain is extreme, sometimes these pain receptors retreat to the nucleus of the cell, as if it's 'safer' there. Pain relieving drugs are designed to block the pain signals in the receptors at the surface of the cell but if the receptors have migrated to the nucleus then the drugs don't have any effect. This knowledge enables researchers to design pain-relieving drugs that can penetrate the nerve cell to the nucleus and thus block the signals from reaching the receptors. They can then 'safely' return to the surface of the cell. At least that's the theory and although it may seem like double-dutch to most of us, sometimes it's interesting to know in which direction the scientists are going.
 

Location may be key to effectively controlling pain
Date:February 3, 2016 Source:McGill University
 
In real estate, location is key. It now seems the same concept holds true when it comes to stopping pain. New research published in Nature Communications indicates that the location of receptors that transmit pain signals is important in how big or small a pain signal will be -- and therefore how effectively drugs can block those signals.

Blocking pain receptors in the nucleus of spinal nerve cells could more effectively control pain than interfering with the same type of receptors located on cell surfaces. The scientists also found that when spinal nerve cells encounter a painful stimulus, some of the receptors will migrate from the cell surface into the nucleus.

A team of researchers led by McGill University's Director of Anesthesia Research Terence Coderre and Karen O'Malley at Washington University in St. Louis, found that rats treated with investigational drugs to block the activity of the receptors in the nucleus soon began behaving in ways that led them to believe the animals had gotten relief from neuropathic pain. According to Prof. Coderre, "drugs that penetrate the spinal nerve cells to block receptors at the nucleus were effective at relieving pain, while those that don't penetrate the nerve cells were not. Rats with nerve injuries had less spontaneous pain and less pain hypersensitivity after blocking receptors at the nucleus, while the pain sensitivity of normal rats was not affected."

Location is key
Scientists have been studying glutamate receptors in the pain pathway for decades. What's new, Coderre explained, is that these most recent experiments -- in cell cultures and rats -- demonstrate that the location of the receptor in the cell has a major effect on the cell's ability to transmit pain signals.

The researchers focused mainly on nerve cells in the spinal cord, an important area for transmitting pain signals coming from all parts of the body.

"We'll now focus our research at determining what events cause the glutamate receptors to migrate to the nucleus, and how to produce drugs that more specifically block glutamate receptors only at the nucleus," added Coderre.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by McGill University. The original item was written by Cynthia Lee. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:
Kathleen Vincent, Virginia M. Cornea, Yuh-Jiin I. Jong, André Laferrière, Naresh Kumar, Aiste Mickeviciute, Jollee S. T. Fung, Pouya Bandegi, Alfredo Ribeiro-da-Silva, Karen L. O’Malley, Terence J. Coderre. Intracellular mGluR5 plays a critical role in neuropathic pain. Nature Communications, 2016; 7: 10604 DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS10604

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160203111018.htm

Hands Or Feet Always Cold It Could Be Neuropathy

You may think that today's post from healthnewslibrary.com (see link below) is a seasonal one (if you live in the Northern hemisphere's current Winter that is) but the point of the article is to highlight the fact that if you have cold feet or hands, you may also have neuropathy (or other conditions) and many patients wonder why their hands and feet are so cold (or warm!) when the external temperature is normal. The article gives a very good overview of what the reasons for this could be and why and suggests a few things to improve the condition. Strange symptoms in the feet or hands are very familiar to almost all neuropathy patients but they don't always understand why this is happening. A vague diagnosis of nerve damage explains very little - this post fills in a few gaps.
 

Why Your Hands and Feet are Always Cold 
Randy B. January 18, 2015 

You wear socks to keep your feet warm, as well as mittens to keep your hands warm. You may even make some coffee, hot tea or hot chocolate just hold in your hands to keep them warm.

Have you ever wondered why your hands and feet are always cold?

Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and it is kept at a satisfying temperature, controlled by the blood vessels. They circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout the whole body. When the external temperature falls, the sensory receptors in the skin worn the brain to constrict the blood vessels, as this allows smaller amounts of blood to the surface of the skin to conserve warmth in the torso of the body.

When the temperature drops, the body will always take into consideration what has priority for staying warm and conserving life, and in this case your organs are more important than your hands and feet. You may not think so at the time when your hands and feet are cold.
Hormones Could Be Why Your Hands and Feet Are Always Cold

Low progesterone or too much Estrogen Dominance influencing thyroid function (low thyroid) can cause cold hands and feet.
Low Adrenal function or Adrenal Insufficiency can also be the cause of cold hands and feet.

Cold hands and feet could be due to an under active thyroid, also known as hypothyroidism. This condition is more common in women, though men can suffer also from it.

Hypothyroidism not only cause cold hands and feet, also including fatigue, hair loss and weight gain, just to mention a few symptoms.
Poor Circulation and Nerve Damage

If you are taking medication for an under active thyroid but still are experiencing cold hands and feet, then you may have Raynaud’s syndrome.
Raynaud’s syndrome is indicated by a loss of blood flow to the hands and feet caused by spasms in the blood vessels (consult with your medical provider to see if you have this condition).

Cold feet could be due to peripheral neuropathy. Neuropathy symptoms may include one or more of the following, numbness in the feet, tingling or a burning sensation in the extremities (legs and feet).

Peripheral neuropathy is a sign of underlying nerve damage, caused by diseases like exposure to toxins (Mercury Toxicity or Amalgam Illness), infections, vitamin deficiencies, and even diabetes. If you suspect this may be the issue, see your medical care provider as soon as possible doctor.

Having these symptoms and ignoring them only allows for more nerve damage to occur. Your doctor may perform several tests, including nerve conduction studies (NCS) to evaluate how messages are being transmitted from the brain to the peripheral nerves.

In the event of peripheral vascular disease, the arteries narrow with a marked reduction of blood flow, notably to the fingers and toes.
Over Growth of Bacteria

Candida is a good bacteria when under control. But if candida is negatively affected in the body, and allowing to overgrow, one can experienced a vast of problems, and including cold hands and feet.
Faulty Immune System

Varying conditions and diseases can cause cold hands and feet. They include multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disorders in general, primary chronic polyarthritis, chronic candidiasis, cancer, neurodermatitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

There are a number of other cause for why your hands and feet are always cold, such as:
Poor circulation due to coronary heart disease
Working with vibrating equipment (like a jack hammer)
A side-effect of certain medications
Smokers and other diseases that affecting blood flow in the tiny blood vessels of the skin (Women smokers may be prone to this)
Stress
Food and other allergies
Chemical sensitivities
Parasites (they can cause a mal-absorption syndrome which very commonly mimics anemia and conditions where the body feels cold all over including hands and feet) 

Recommendations to Help Warm Your Cold Hands and Feet

Cayenne Pepper in powder form can be used externally as well as internally. One-eighth of a teaspoon sprinkled into each shoe or glove can help the body generate heat.

Water-soluble components in cayenne dilate capillaries in the skin surface, producing an immediate sensation of heat. Oil-soluble compounds of cayenne applied topically reach deeper tissues within 15 minutes, and generate warmth for hours.

Ginkgo Biloba is documented for improving circulation, and may help for cold hands and feet.

Ginger Root is a warming herb helpful in improving circulation.

Korean Ginseng is also used for circulation and the nerves system.

Aerobic exercises or just any regular exercise program increases circulation of blood and nutrients, and also helping to flush the body of toxins.

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables that contain high amounts the B-complex vitamins, which can help with the nerve system and circulation.

http://www.healthnewslibrary.com/why-your-hands-and-feet-are-always-cold/

Strange Symptoms May Be Nerve Damage

Today's post from delraybeachpodiatry.com (see link below) comes from the point of view of a podiatrist (foot care specialist) and is a useful short description of what sort of symptoms might tell you you are suffering from nerve damage. There are many articles on the internet (and here on this blog) about what neuropathy is but sometimes you just need to know what the reason behind your troubling and strange symptoms is. If you feel that you may be suffering from neuropathy, go to your doctor. The symptoms alone should tell him or here that there is nerve damage involved.

How to Identify the Symptoms of Neuropathy
Posted on September 14, 2016 by Jameson Olive |

An estimated 20 million people in the United States suffer from some form of peripheral neuropathy, a condition that affects the normal activity of the nerves that connect the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord — to the rest of the body.

Peripheral neuropathy can involve various different nerve types, including motor, sensory, and autonomic nerves. It can also be categorized by the size of the nerve fibers involved, large or small.

In the world of podiatry, most cases of peripheral neuropathy are found in the feet and develop from nerve damage caused by diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy can occur in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. In Type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce the insulin necessary to convert glucose into the energy that the body needs. Type 2 diabetes, which is far more common, occurs when the body is unable to use insulin properly. It has been estimated that between 60 to 70 percent of diabetics will deal with some form of neuropathy in their lifetime, compared to only a 25 to 30 percent chance for non-diabetics.

The condition can also manifest itself in the feet as a side effect from certain medications, neurological disorders, arthritis or as a result from a traumatic injury. As of today, more than 100 types of peripheral neuropathy have been identified, each with its own symptoms and prognosis, and are classified according to the type of damage to the nerves have sustained.

So how do you know if you are suffering from peripheral neuropathy?

Symptoms of neuropathy vary depending on the type and location of the nerves involved. The symptoms either appear suddenly, which is called acute neuropathy, or develop slowly over time, called chronic neuropathy.

Dr. Ian S. Goldbaum, a board certified podiatrist with over 30 years of experience, sees over 500 patients a month suffering from neuropathy at his offices in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach.

According to Dr. Goldbaum, the most common symptoms of peripheral neuropathy found in the feet of his patients are cramping sensations, numbing sensations, tightening, tingling or burning, and an overall decrease in sensation. A change in how the toes feel sensations often also signals that something might be wrong.

Other symptoms may also include:
Muscle atrophy
Loss of coordination
Loss of reflexes
Feeling that you are wearing socks or gloves when you are not
Difficulty walking or moving your arms or legs
Muscle twitching
Skin, hair or nail changes.
Inability to detect changes in heat and cold

If you believe you are suffering from any of these symptoms, it is important to seek out your health care provider as soon as possible as these ailments might not only be a sign of peripheral neuropathy, but could also indicate the onset of an underlying disorder like diabetes. Early diagnosis and treatment offer the best chance for controlling your symptoms and preventing further damage to your peripheral nerves.

Follow Delray Beach Podiatry on Twitter @Delray_Podiatry

http://delraybeachpodiatry.com/blog/neuropathy-peripheral-how-to-identify/

Alcohol And Nerve Damage Not To Be Underestimated

Today's post from diabetic2.tophealthychoices.com (see link below) looks at a widely underestimated cause of nerve damage and neuropathic complications and that is alcohol. Most people are well aware of the results of over-indulging in alcohol but may not be aware what it can do to your nervous system and neurological functions. This article looks at what it is, what the symptoms are and how it is treated, with the conclusion that like most forms of neuropathy, there is no cure. Once the damage is done, you're left with trying to control the symptoms. It also goes without saying that if you already have neuropathy, alcohol may help you temporarily forget but will only worsen the condition in the long run. Everything in moderation folks!

 Alcoholic Neuropathy – Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
17 Jul, 2015

As Dr. Siwek mentions in this week’s episode of the Pain Channel, April is Alcohol Awareness Month. When we think of alcohol awareness, the first things that pop into our minds are drunk driving, designated drivers, and sobriety tests, right? Popular culture has taught us to correlate drinking with driving consequences. But Alcohol Awareness Month is truly about the health consequences associated with alcoholism such as neurologic complications, vitamin deficiencies, liver disease, and much more.

Neurologic complications of alcohol abuse may also result from nutritional deficiency, because alcoholics tend to eat poorly and may become depleted of thiamine or other vitamins important for nervous system function. Persons who are intoxicated are also at higher risk for head injury or for compression injuries of the peripheral nerves. Sudden changes in blood chemistry, especially sodium, related to alcohol abuse may cause central pontine myelinolysis, a condition of the brainstem in which nerves lose their myelin coating. Liver disease complicating alcoholic cirrhosis may cause dementia, delirium, and movement disorder. _Healthline.com

What is Alcoholic Neuropathy?

Alcoholic neuropathy, also known as alcoholic polyneuropathy, is the direct result of overconsumption of alcohol over extended periods of time. Unfortunately, alcoholics to not eat right, nor exercise, so their bodies slowly become deficient in several nutritional areas. There is a continual debate over whether it is the alcohol itself, or malnutrition that accompanies alcoholism, which is the root cause of alcoholic neuropathy.

The causes of alcoholic neuropathy are extensive, from irregular lifestyles leading to missed meals and poor diets, to a complete loss of appetite, alcoholic gastritis, constant vomiting, and damaging of the lining of the gastrointestinal system. All of these symptoms cause nutritional deficiencies, and when the lining of the gastrointestinal system becomes compromised, the body is not able to absorb the proper nutrients.

Alcohol consumption in extremes can also increase the toxins within a person’s body such as ethanol and acetaldehyde, which many believe are directly linked to alcoholic neuropathy.

What are the Symptoms of Alcoholic Neuropathy?

In most cases, alcoholic neuropathy sets gradually into the body so that the individual does not realize they have this condition until it is deeply rooted within their system. While weight loss is an early warning sign, it is also a side effect of heavy drinking, so most individuals with alcohol conditions do not realize what their body is trying to tell them. Painful paralysis and motor loss is the first symptom that individuals tend to truly take notice of. According to Alcoholism-Solutions.com, the following is a list of possible symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy:

Normal symptoms can include:

loss of sensation
tingling in the feet/hands
weak ankles
weakened muscles and a burning feeling in the feet.

Gastrointestinal symptoms can include:

loose bowel movements
feelings of nausea, possibly vomiting and constipation.

Men may experience:

the inability to hold liquid (incontinence)
and even impotence in some cases.

In severe occurrences of alcoholic neuropathy:

the autonomic nerves are damaged
autonomic functions are involuntary, like the heart beat and respiration.

Because this chronic condition effects the brain and nerves, pain can be intense and constant, sharp and quick, or dull and prolonged, and cramping may occur in muscles without warning.

Treatment of Alcohol Neuropathy

Most pain doctors in Arizona will tell you that there is no known cure for alcohol neuropathy, but there are successful pain management and treatment methods to help patients get back into life. At this point, when a patient has been diagnosed with alcohol neuropathy, a pain doctor’s best intention is to control the pain. Once that damage has been done from this chronic condition, unfortunately it cannot be undone. However, the pain can be controlled.

Obtaining from alcohol consumption will be the pain doctor’s first course of treatment. Whether it’s through counseling, Alcoholic’s Anonymous meetings, or in-house psychological evaluations, kicking the habit is the first step. This will be the toughest step for anyone living with alcohol neuropathy.

Next, your pain doctor will want to manage your nutritional intake through medication and a strict diet. Using a multidisciplinary team of industry experts, your pain doctor will no doubt sit you down with a nutritionist to determine the best course to get you back on track with a healthy diet. Multivitamins are also a key aspect in nourishing your body.

Physical therapy is usually called for in cases of alcohol neuropathy due to the great damage that has been done to the nerves. Since motor loss is a symptom of this chronic condition, your pain doctor will want to bring blood flow and life back into the affected areas of your body. One of the best ways to do this is through exercise and physical therapy.

Most individuals who abuse alcohol are also at great risk for abusing pain medication while going through pain management treatment, which is always a concern for pain doctors in Arizona. According to NYTimes Health, the least amount of medication needed to reduce symptoms is advised, to reduce dependence and other side effects of chronic use.

Common medications may include over-the-counter analgesics such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or acetaminophen to reduce pain. Stabbing pains may respond to tricyclic antidepressants or anticonvulsant medications such as phenytoin, gabapentin, or carbamazepine.

While it’s deemed impossible to reverse the damage already done to the body’s nerves, pain doctors can help patients living with alcoholic neuropathy reduce and control pain and get back into life. Of course, the best way to prevent this chronic condition is to respect your alcohol intake, but if you are suffering from this debilitating condition speak immediately to an Arizona pain specialist about your options at http://www.ThePainCenter.com.

http://diabetic2.tophealthychoices.com/alcoholic-neuropathy-symptoms-causes-and-treatment-96/

Why Nerve Damage May Be Restored In Some Cases Vid

Today's video and explanation from medicaldaily.com (see link below) explains why nerve damage is almost always irreversible and in that sense is very useful. However, it could do with simple graphics to illustrate what she says (at breakneck speed!) and furthermore, she tends to concentrate on nerve damage as a result of accident or injury and in those areas, there is the possibility of some nerve restoration. The vast majority of neuropathy sufferers however, have the condition due to over 100 other causes than injury and for those people, nerve restoration is practically impossible. This video, while useful, tends to blur the edges a bit and can confuse you if your nerve damage comes from common causes such as diabetes of chemotherapy, or HIV or whatever. In cases where direct injury is not involved, nerve damage restoration is almost impossible at the moment (although stem cell therapy is offering hope).

Reversing Nerve Damage: Central Nervous System Inhibits Cell Regeneration, But Stem Cell Treatment May Help
February 27, 2016 12:12 PM By Lizette Borreli

 
Our nervous system is involved in everything our body does, from maintaining our breath to controlling our muscles. Our nerves are vital to all we do; therefore, nerve pain and damage can heavily influence our quality of life. In Discovery News' latest video, "Why Can't We Reverse Nerve Damage?" host Lissette Padilla explains the central nervous system (CNS) has certain proteins that inhibit cell regeneration, because each cell in the nervous system has a unique function on the pathway, like a circuit, and can't be replaced.

The nervous system can be divided into two sections, with the brain and spinal cord making up the CNS. Nerves are made up of sensory fibers and motor neurons, which comprise the peripheral nervous system. Nerve cells are made up of many parts, but they send signals through threads covered in a protective sheet of myelin. These threads are called axons.

Axons are the long part of the cell that reaches out to neighboring cells to send information down the line. Schwann cells, found only in the peripheral nervous system, are glial cells that produce protective myelin. Schwann cells could potentially clean up damaged nerves, which could make way for healing process to take place and new nerves to be formed.

The problem is these Schwann cells are missing from the CNS. The CNS is comprised of myelin-producing cells called oligodendrocytes. And these cells don't clean up damaged nerve cells at all, hence the damage problem.

However, research is currently underway to examine the potential success of system cell treatment, where stem cells are injected directly at the injury site. It will still take a few years to see the results of such trials, but since the peripheral nervous system doesn't have the same blocking proteins that the CNS has, the idea is Schwann cells could help heal the damage.

So it is possible to regrow nerves, albeit slowly. For instance, if you cut a nerve into your shoulder, it could take a year to regrow. By that time, the muscles in your arms could become atrophied. Researchers are working on helping the body heal faster.

http://www.medicaldaily.com/central-nervous-system-inhibits-cell-regeneration-stem-cell-treatment-375482

How Lonely Can Pain Be

Today's post from www.psychologytoday.com (see link below) looks at a very important side effect of chronic neuropathic pain (irrespective of the cause) and that is loneliness. The psychological effects of long-term pain should never be underestimated and can be just as damaging as the physical problems. It's important to seek help if you can and not neglect it or try to shrug it off as being inevitable. In the end, many people end up in a vicious circle of pain and depression, each of which worsens as a result of the other. Well worth a read.

Listening to Pain: Finding words, compassion, and relief 
The Loneliness of Pain
Acknowledging the isolating quality of pain
Published on August 24, 2011 by David Biro, M.D., Ph.D. in Listening to Pain
David Foster Wallace, the acclaimed writer, suffered from depression. The first line of a short story he wrote captures one of the most under appreciated but devastating insights about the experience of pain:

The depressed person was in terrible and unceasing emotional pain, and the impossibility of sharing or articulating this pain was itself a component of the pain and a contributing factor in its essential horror.

Part of what makes pain "painful" is its privacy and unsharability, the feeling of aloneness. That goes for physical pain as well as psychological pain. "Nothing is quite so isolating," writes Robert Murphy in a memoir about his struggle with cancer, "as the knowledge that when one hurts, nobody else feels the pain; that when one sickens, the malaise is a private affair; and that when one dies, the world continues with barely a ripple."

This under appreciated feature (to that outsider, that is) is especially true for pain that persists, chronic versus acute pain. When you break a bone, the pain can be excruciating and isolating for hours or days, but once it lets up, you can return to the intrinsically social being that defines our species. When the pain goes on for months or years, as it does for people with back pain or fibromyalgia, it becomes more and more difficult to reintegrate oneself into a world that has no idea what you are experiencing.

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Pain causes this rupture because it inverts our normal perspective. Instead of reaching out to other people in work or play, we turn inward and self protective. This is an instinctive, understandable response. Something is wrong inside of me and so I must attend and focus on the threat and make sure it doesn't get any worse.

But while the pain inside looms so large for the person experiencing it, it is often invisible to the person viewing it from the outside, a doctor, a spouse, or a friend. Even when they see something wrong on the surface of the body, a bleeding wound for example, they don't "see" the pain, which may or may not be as severe as the person claims. And when there is nothing to see on the surface, in the case of migraine or neuropathic pain, the doubt only increases: How can one be sure? And even if the outsider believes the sufferer, it is difficult for him or her to imagine what it's like or how severe it is (how easily the pain-free forget past pains); or at times, the outsider simply doesn't want to hear about the pain over and over again: Enough already, what's so important to you is not so important to me.

When you combine a sufferer who sees only his pain with an outsider who can't see it at all, the result is a widening of the normal barrier that exists between people. A great wall has suddenly sprung up. I remember feeling just this way in the hospital during my bone marrow transplant when the pain was at its worst. Though I was surrounded by the people I loved most in the world, my wife, my family my friends, I might as well have been on another planet. They couldn't hear my screams. They had no idea what was happening on my side of the wall.

When we appreciate this essential feature of pain - that the loneliness can hurt as much as the "burning" or "stabbing" quality, and that the longer it persists, the worse the entire pain experience becomes -- we must recognize that there is more to do than surgery or analgesics. Of course, fix the disc problem if it can be fixed, and prescribe enough pain medication, but also try to breach the wall between patient and world that contributes to the suffering.

Simply listening can help by showing that there is someone who hears you, that you are not alone. Better yet, figure out ways to make pain more communicable and sharable -- through words or pictures or whatever other kinds of language can be summoned for the task (the subject of a future posting) - so that person on the other side of the wall is not only present but actually begins to understand what you are feeling. In this sense language can be as soothing as our most powerful medicines.

References:
David Foster Wallace, "The Depressed Person," (Harpers Magazine, Jan 1998).
Robert F. Murphy, The Body Silent: The Different World of the Disabled, (Norton, 1990).
David Biro, One Hundred Days: My Unexpected Journey from Doctor to Patient, (Vintage, 2001)

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/listening-pain/201108/the-loneliness-pain

BACTERIAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM COULD BE USED TO STOP CANCER CELLS

Cancer, while always dangerous, truly becomes life-threatening when cancer cells begin to spread to different areas throughout the body. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered that a molecule used as a communication system by bacteria can be manipulated to prevent cancer cells from spreading. Senthil Kumar, an assistant research professor and assistant director of the Comparative Oncology and Epigenetics Laboratory at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, says this communication system can be used to "tell" cancer cells how to act, or even to die on command.

"During an infection, bacteria release molecules which allow them to 'talk' to each other," said Kumar, the lead author of the study. "Depending on the type of molecule released, the signal will tell other bacteria to multiply, escape the immune system or even stop spreading. We found that if we introduce the 'stop spreading' bacteria molecule to cancer cells, those cells will not only stop spreading; they will begin to die as well."

In the study published in PLOS ONE, Kumar, and co-author Jeffrey Bryan, an associate professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, treated human pancreatic cancer cells grown in culture with bacterial communication molecules, known as ODDHSL. After the treatment, the pancreatic cancer cells stopped multiplying, failed to migrate and began to die.

"We used pancreatic cancer cells, because those are the most robust, aggressive and hard-to-kill cancer cells that can occur in the human body," Kumar said. "To show that this molecule can not only stop the cancer cells from spreading, but actually cause them to die, is very exciting. Because this treatment shows promise in such an aggressive cancer like pancreatic cancer, we believe it could be used on other types of cancer cells and our lab is in the process of testing this treatment in other types of cancer."

Kumar says the next step in his research is to find a more efficient way to introduce the molecules to the cancer cells before animal and human testing can take place.

"Our biggest challenge right now is to find a way to introduce these molecules in an effective way," Kumar said. "At this time, we only are able to treat cancer cells with this molecule in a laboratory setting. We are now working on a better method which will allow us to treat animals with cancer to see if this therapy is truly effective. The early-stage results of this research are promising. If additional studies, including animal studies, are successful then the next step would be translating this application into clinics."

Is Turmeric The Kick Ass Spice Its Made Out To Be

Today's post from bbc.com (see link below) isn't directly related to neuropathy but discusses the potential health benefits of turmeric, which is something that has long been rumoured to help with nerve pain and promoting nerve health in the body. Other articles on this blog (use the search button to the right, or begin here) are more directly related to turmeric (curcumin) and neuropathy but this one emerges from a BBC program and discusses its health benefits in general. It turns out that turmeric/curcumin prepared in food is more effective than turmeric in pill or powder form. Whatever your conclusions are about turmeric, it may be worth doing a lot more research in relation to nerve damage. Folk-lore herbal remedies are all well and good, but we need a little more proof than that.

Could turmeric really boost your health?
20 September 2016 From the section Magazine

Bold health claims have been made for the power of turmeric. Is there anything in them, asks Michael Mosley.

Turmeric is a spice which in its raw form looks a bit like ginger root, but when it's ground down you get a distinctive yellowy orange powder that's very popular in South Asian cuisine. Until recently the place you would most likely encounter turmeric would be in chicken tikka masala, one of Britain's most popular dishes.

These days, thanks to claims that it can improve everything from allergies to depression, it's become incredibly trendy, not just cooked and sprinkled on food but added to drinks like tea. Turmeric latte anyone?

Now I'm usually very cynical about such claims, but in the case of turmeric I thought there could be something to it. There are at least 200 different compounds in turmeric, but there's one that scientists are particularly interested in. It gives this spice its colour. It's called curcumin.

Thousands of scientific papers have been published looking at turmeric and curcumin in the laboratory - some with promising results. But they've mainly been done in mice, using unrealistically high doses. There have been few experiments done in the real world, on humans.

Find out more

Michael Mosley is one of the presenters of Trust Me, I'm A Doctor, broadcast on Thursdays at 20:00 BST on BBC Two - catch up on BBC iPlayer

Find out more about the experiment

This is exactly the sort of situation where we on Trust Me like to make a difference. So we tracked down leading researchers from across the country and with their help recruited nearly 100 volunteers from the North East to do a novel experiment. Few of our volunteers ate foods containing turmeric on a regular basis.

Then we divided them into three groups.

We asked one group to consume a teaspoon of turmeric every day for six weeks, ideally mixed in with their food. Another group were asked to swallow a supplement containing the same amount of turmeric, and a third group were given a placebo, or dummy pill.

The volunteers who were asked to consume a teaspoon of turmeric a day were ingenious about what they added it to, mixing it with warm milk or adding it to yoghurt. Not everyone was enthusiastic about the taste, with comments ranging from "awful" to "very strong and lingering".

But what effect was eating turmeric having on them? We decided to try and find out using a novel test developed at University College, London, by Prof Martin Widschwendter and his team.
 
Prof Widschwendter is not particularly interested in turmeric but he is interested in how cancers start. His team have been comparing tissue samples taken from women with breast cancer and from women without it and they've found a change that happens to the DNA of cells well before they become cancerous.

The change is in the "packaging" of the genes. It's called DNA methylation. It's a bit like a dimmer switch that can turn the activity of the gene up or down.

The exciting thing is that if it is detected in time this change can, potentially, be reversed, before the cell turns cancerous. DNA methylation may explain why, for instance, your risk of developing lung cancer drops dramatically once you give up smoking. It could be that the unhealthy methylation of genes, caused by tobacco smoke, stops or reverses once you quit.

So we asked Prof Widschwendter whether testing the DNA methylation patterns of our volunteers' blood cells at the start and end of the experiment would reveal any change in their risk of cancer and other diseases, like allergies. It was something that had not been done before.

Turmeric

Perennial herbaceous plant native to South Asia
Spice is gathered from the plants rhizomes (roots)
As well as being used in Indian food, turmeric is used in traditional medicine and as a dyeing agent

Turmeric recipes from BBC Food

Fortunately he was very enthusiastic. "We were delighted," he said, "to be involved in this study, because it is a proof of principle study that opens entirely new windows of opportunity to really look into how we can predict preventive measures, particularly for cancer."

So what, if anything, happened?

When I asked him that, he pulled out his laptop and slowly began to speak.

"We didn't find any changes in the group taking the placebo," he told me. That was not surprising.

"The supplement group also didn't also show any difference," he went on.

That was surprising and somewhat disappointing.

"But the group who mixed turmeric powder into their food," he continued, "there we saw quite substantial changes. It was really exciting, to be honest. We found one particular gene which showed the biggest difference. And what's interesting is that we know this particular gene is involved in three specific diseases: depression, asthma and eczema, and cancer. This is a really striking finding."

 Turmeric has long been used in Indian food It certainly is. But why did we see changes only in those eating turmeric, not in those taking the same amount as a supplement?

Dr Kirsten Brandt, who is a senior lecturer at Newcastle University and who helped run the experiment, thinks it may have something to do with the way the turmeric was consumed.

"It could be," she told me, "that adding fat or heating it up makes the active ingredients more soluble, which would make it easier for us to absorb the turmeric. It certainly gives us something, to work on, to try to find out exactly what's happening."

She also told me, because our volunteers all tried consuming their turmeric in different ways, that we can be confident it was the turmeric that was making the difference and not some other ingredient used to make, say, chicken tikka masala.

There is a lot more research that needs to be done, including repeating the experiment to see if these findings can be confirmed. But in light of what we've discovered will I be consuming more of the stuff? Probably. It helps that I like the taste and I've already begun experimenting with things like adding it with a touch of chilli to an omelette.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37408293

How Neuropathy Can Be A Buzzkill!

Today's post from neuropathydr.com (see link below) is from the pen of the ever-reliable Dr. John Hayes Jr and offers some invaluable advice as to how to deal with changes in the quality of your life brought about by neuropathy. Of course, you're not a saint and nobody expects you to follow his guidelines to the letter but even if you decide that a few of his points are valid and applicable to your situation, then you'll have taken steps to improve how your life feels with this wretched condition. Worth a read.

Peripheral Neuropathy and Your Quality of Life
Posted by john on December 3, 2015
 
There are things you can do to lessen the physical (and emotional) effects of peripheral neuropathy and help you function as normally as possible!

If you’re suffering from peripheral neuropathy, you know how much it affects your life.

Every single day…

Even the simplest tasks can be difficult if not impossible…

To anyone unfamiliar with peripheral neuropathy and its symptoms, they might just think “your nerves hurt a little…”

But at a peripheral neuropathy sufferer, you know better…

Peripheral neuropathy not only affects your health, it can wreck your quality of life.

How Do You Define Quality of Life?

Generally speaking, Quality of Life is a term used to measure a person’s overall well-being. In medical terms, it usually means how well a patient has adapted to a medical condition. It measures:

Your physical and material well being
Your social relationships – how you interact with others
Your social activities
Your personal fulfillment – your career, any creative outlets you may have, how involved you are with other interests)
Your recreational activities – your hobbies, sports, etc.
Your actual health – what your health is really like and how healthy you believe you are

How do you feel about these aspects of your life? Your attitude and approach to your illness, both your neuropathy and the underlying cause of your neuropathy (i.e., diabetes, HIV/AIDS, lupus, etc.) can make a huge difference in how well you adapt to your neuropathy symptoms.

Neuropathy Symptoms Aren’t Just Physical

The pain of peripheral neuropathy falls into the category of what is considered chronic pain. It usually doesn’t just come and go. You can’t just pop a couple of aspirin and forget about it. It’s pain with its root cause in nerve damage.

The nerves that actually register pain are the actual cause of the pain. When you’re in that kind of pain on a consistent basis, it affects you in many different ways:

You become depressed and/or anxious
Your productivity and interest at work is disrupted
You can’t sleep
It’s difficult for you to get out and interact with other people so you feel isolated
You sometimes don’t understand why you’re not getting better

What You Can Do To Improve Your Quality of Life

You may feel like your situation is hopeless, especially if you’ve become mired in depression.

But it isn’t.

There are things you can do to lessen the physical (and emotional) effects of peripheral neuropathy and help you function as normally as possible:
Pay special attention to caring for your feet. Inspect them daily for cuts, pressure spots, blisters or calluses (use a mirror to look at the bottom of your feet). The minute you notice anything out of the ordinary, call your doctor or your local NeuropathyDR® clinician for help. Never go barefoot – anywhere.
Treat yourself to a good foot massage to improve your circulation and reduce pain. Check with your insurance company – if massage is actually prescribed by your doctor, they may cover some of the cost.

Only wear shoes that are padded, supportive and comfortable and never wear tight socks.

If you smoke, quit. Nicotine decreases circulation and if you’re a peripheral neuropathy patient, you can’t risk that.

Cut back on your caffeine intake. Several studies have found that caffeine may actually make neuropathy pain worse.

If you sit at a desk, never cross your knees or lean on your elbows. The pressure will only make your nerve damage worse.

Be really careful when using hot water. Your peripheral neuropathy may affect the way you register changes in temperature and it’s really easy for you to burn yourself and not even realize it.

Use a “bed cradle” to keep your sheets away from your feet if you experience pain when trying to sleep. That will help you rest.

Try to be as active as possible. Moderate exercise is great for circulation and it can work wonders for your emotional and mental health.

Make your home as injury proof as possible – install bath assists and/or hand rails and never leave anything on the floor that you can trip over.

Eat a healthy, balanced diet. If you don’t know what you should and shouldn’t eat, talk to your NeuropathyDR® clinician about a personalized diet plan to maintain proper weight and give your body what it needs to heal.

Try to get out as often as possible to socialize with others.

We hope this information helps you to better manage your peripheral neuropathy symptoms. Take a look at the list above and see how many of these things you’re already doing to help yourself.

http://neuropathydr.com/peripheral-neuropathy-and-your-quality-of-life/

Coping With Neuropathy Nobody Said It Would Be Easy!

Today's post from foxnews.com (see link below) is one which the cynics amongst you will hate and the optimists will love. However, if you disregard the slightly glib/new age titles for each tip, the content is very useful, if not essential, for people living with long-lasting nerve pain. It's true, we have to work on our own mindsets to achieve anything like a positive outlook about neuropathy - it's a never-ending grind and often, however positive you try to be, your body will stubbornly refuse to cooperate. Nevertheless some of the ideas here may help you feel better on any given day and for that reason alone, they're worth publishing. Try not to let cynicism take over because cynicism leads to depression and worse pain.

12 healthy ways to cope with a chronic illness
By Julie Revelant Published March 21, 2016

In 2007, Tami Stackelhouse, then 35, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that caused pain throughout her body, brain fog and extreme fatigue.

“I remember thinking, ‘If I could just close the door, turn off the lights and lie down on the floor of my office, I would be asleep immediately,’” Stackelhouse, of Tigard, Oreg., said.

Eventually her condition worsened, even forcing her to quit her job as a customer service manager, file for disability and spend day after day lying on the couch.

After months of searching for answers and working with her doctor, a turning point came when she found a health coach who helped her change her diet, find ways to be more active, reduce stress and get enough sleep.

“One of the things we came up with was a mantra of ‘Every day that I do what I need to do, I’ll feel a little bit better,’” she recalled.

With supportive family members and friends by her side, along with meditation, journaling and prayer, Stackelhouse found strength she needed to pull through each day until her symptoms subsided.

And in the process, she learned how to be kind to herself.

“Changing my attitude towards myself was the number one thing that made it all happen,” she said.

Receiving a devastating diagnosis or dealing with a chronic condition is no easy feat. In fact, studies show that approximately one-third of people with chronic illness also deal with depression.

The good news however, is that if you have a chronic illness, there are some simple strategies you can do to feel strong, calm and positive.

1. Don’t blame yourself— or your body.

When you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness, it’s common to view your body as the enemy or feel angry and blame yourself as though it’s your own weakness that is preventing you from healing.

Try to see the illness as the enemy instead and recognize that your body is working as hard as it can to support you even it’s sick, said Toni Bernhard, the Davis, Calif.-based author of “How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide.” Bernhard has been living with a chronic illness for 15 years.

“Everyone struggles with his or health at some point in their lives and to blame yourself only adds mental stress and suffering on top of the physical difficulties you’re already facing,” she said

2. Use Google wisely.

Information is power, but if you’re obsessive by nature, you’ll get stuck, said Carolyn Daitch, Ph.D., an internationally-renowned psychologist in Farmington Hills, Mich. and author of “The Road to Calm Workbook: Life-Changing Tools to Stop Runaway Emotions.”

It’s OK to research reputable sources about your illness but if it’s causing you anxiety, put a time limit on it or ask a friend or partner to help you weed through all of the information and narrow down what’s important and relevant.

3. Find acceptance.

“If you spend your time denying where you are and being angry about it, it keeps you from taking constructive steps to make things better for yourself,” Bernhard said.

Instead of looking too far into the future, think about what you can do now, within your limitations, to be happy. And say to yourself, “I don’t like it, I don’t want it, but I can handle it,” Daitch said.

4. Focus on the positives.

When all else feels hopeless, it can be hard to stay positive, but it’s important to build “positive expectancy,” or a belief that things will get better, Daitch said.

When you know the illness is short term, it’s much easier to do, but even if you’re facing a long-term illness, you can still come up with things to focus on so you’ll stay positive.

5. Be kind to yourself.

Instead of putting yourself down when things get hard, be understanding and compassionate with yourself. Think about what you might say to someone else in need and use the same kind words when you speak to yourself.

6. Assess your support network.

Family and friends might feel uncomfortable or afraid of your illness. What’s more, some may not have the patience to deal with the unpredictable nature of your life, while others may not want to believe that you’re sick especially if you look perfectly healthy.

Although you can certainly try to educate them about your condition, if they can’t be supportive for you like you wish they were, forgive them and wish them the best if you decide to part ways.

“Holding bitterness and anger in your heart just makes you feel worse,” Bernhard said.

7. Practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness and meditation are effective ways to stay present and restore a sense of calm. In fact, meditation reduces anxiety, fatigue and pain in women undergoing breast cancer biopsies, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

To start a meditation practice, notice the thoughts, feelings and sensations in your body, but don’t fight or judge them. Instead, imagine them floating away like balloons.

“Although the goal is not necessarily for it to have it go away, indeed, if you move into the kind of calm, curious detachment, it usually does soften,” Daitch said.

8. Visualize health.

Visualization and guided imagery are powerful ways to calm the body and the mind. Try this: imagine your body as a symphony with many sections and instruments. Although one instrument might need to be tuned, focus on the healthy parts and say to yourself, “There’s strength within. There’s a part of me that’s strong and it can help other parts,” Daitch said.

9. Ask for a hug.

Studies show that sharing a hug with a loved one can help lower blood pressure, ease stress and boost oxytocin, the love hormone. What’s more, hugging may even prevent stress-induced illness, a recent study in the journal Psychological Science found.

10. Get support.
 
Reach out to other people you can confide in, those who have dealt with a chronic illness and/or find strength in public figures who inspire you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help either, whether it’s a friend who can help run errands or cook meals for you or a mental health counselor you can talk to on a regular basis.

11. De-stress.

Walking, yoga, aromatherapy and humor are all great ways to reduce stress and restore a sense of calm and well-being.

12. Set boundaries.

It’s natural for family members and friends to offer unsolicited advice or words of wisdom, but if it’s unwelcomed it can make you upset. Recognize that whatever they offer comes from a place of love and instead of reacting simply say, “Thank you, I’ll think about it.”

Julie Revelant is a health journalist and a consultant who provides content marketing and copywriting services for the healthcare industry. She's also a mom of two. Learn more about Julie at revelantwriting.com.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/03/21/12-healthy-ways-to-cope-with-chronic-illness.html

MILD HYPERTENSION CAN BE TREATED WITHOUT DRUGS

For people with mild hyper-tension, encouraging lifestyle changes should be the first line of recommendations for physicians rather than putting them on drugs, suggest experts.

Lead researcher Stephen Martin and colleagues argue that the current strategy is failing patients and

wasting healthcare resources.

"Over-emphasis on drug treatment risks adverse effects such as increased risk of falls and misses opportunities to modify individual lifestyle choices," they noted.

They called for a re-examination of the threshold and urge clinicians to be cautious about treating low risk patients with blood pressure lowering drugs.

Up to 40 percent of adults worldwide have hyper-tension, over half of which is classified as mild.

Low risk indicates that an individual does not have existing cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes or kidney diseases.

Over the years, hyper-tension has been treated with drugs at progressively lower blood pressures.

"We urge clinicians to share the uncertainty surrounding drug treatment of mild hypertension with patients, measure blood pressure at home, improve accuracy of clinic measurements and encourage lifestyle changes," Martin concluded.

They were scheduled to discuss the findings at the 2014 Preventing Overdiagnosis Conference hosted by the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Oxford.

Erectile Disfunction Can Be A Neuropathic Problem

Today's post from uk-med.co.uk (see link below) talks about erectile disfunction, the elephant in the room for many men living with neuropathy. Women can have problems in this area too, especially concerning dryness but this article concentrates on men. For once it is a study which looks at the problem from another angle, in that it looked at men with impotence and found that many of them also suffered from neuropathic problems. Usually, ED is seen as a possible side effect of neuropathy but it can also be said that neuropathy is a co-problem with erectile disfunction. Many people don't need studies to know that ED can be a depressing problem to add to the symptoms of neuropathy but dicussing it with your doctor may lead to satisfactory modern treatments improving the situation.

Smoking doesn't help guys!

 Neuropathic Pain Connection With Erectile Dysfunction

       
A recent research paper written by Dr Consuelo Valles-Antuna at the University Central de Asturias in Spain, has found a connection between nerve impairment in the peripheral nervous system and its effect on erectile dysfunction.

 They studied 90 patients that displayed acute signs of peripheral neuropathy and the added problem of erectile dysfunction, needing intensive therapy. Current drug treatments for erectile dysfunction include Viagra and Cialis.

Patients that volunteered for the research had an average age of 54 years, 10% under 40 years and 2% were over 70. No interconnection with the IIEF-5 (International Index of Erectile Function) summary was found in the older test subjects, by way of making them more susceptible, if anything the younger participants had lower IIEF-5 scores. Breakdown of other medical backgrounds was; 30% cardiovascular disease, 16% neurogenic conditions, 16% diabetes, 7% mental health and 11% no risk factors.

Those presenting with worse cases of peripheral neuropathy also had very low IIEF-5 results. Neurophysiological investigations supported evidence that 69% had neurological pathology and 8% of these had myelopathy, which affects the spinal cord. Over a third had polyneuropathy, with small percentages were exhibiting small fibre and pudendal neuropathy, which causes problems in the pelvic area.

 Dr Valles-Antuna believes that this is a unique study, that covers the full spectrum of peripheral nerve fibre conditions in a non-selected group presenting with erectile dysfunction. Using the information gathered from the sufferers, combined with neurophysiological tests has shown that peripheral neuropathy is prevalent amongst men with impotence. With reference to this information, it is advised that medical practitioners’ should perform neurophysiological examinations on erectile dysfunction patients and establish that the pelvic area has been screened effectively.

http://www.uk-med.co.uk/Health/Neuropathic-Pain-Connection-With-Erectile-Dysfunction

PESTICIDES FOUND IN MILK DECADES AGO MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH SIGNS OF PARKINSONS DISEASE

A pesticide used prior to the early 1980s and found in milk at that time may be associated with signs of Parkinson's disease in the brain, according to a study published in the December 9, 2015, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The link between dairy products and Parkinson's disease has been found in other studies," said study author R. D. Abbott, PhD, with the Shiga University of Medical Science in Otsu, Japan. "Our study looked specifically at milk and the signs of Parkinson's in the brain."

For the study, 449 Japanese-American men with an average age of 54 who participated in the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study were followed for more than 30 years and until death, after which autopsies were performed. Tests looked at whether participants had lost brain cells in the substantia nigra area of the brain, which occurs in Parkinson's disease and can start decades before any symptoms begin. Researchers also measured in 116 brains the amount of residue of a pesticide called heptachlor epoxide. The pesticide was found at very high levels in the milk supply in the early 1980s in Hawaii, where it was used in the pineapple industry. It was used to kill insects and was removed from use in the US around that time. The pesticide may also be found in well water.

The study found that nonsmokers who drank more than two cups of milk per day had 40 percent fewer brain cells in that area of the brain than people who drank less than two cups of milk per day. For those who were smokers at any point, there was no association between milk intake and loss of brain cells. Previous studies have shown that people who smoke have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

Residues of heptachlor epoxide were found in 90 percent of people who drank the most milk, compared to 63 percent of those who did not drink any milk. Abbott noted that the researchers do not have evidence that the milk participants drank contained heptachlor epoxide. He also stated that the study does not show that the pesticide or milk intake cause Parkinson's disease; it only shows an association.

"There are several possible explanations for the association, including chance," said Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and a member of the American Academy of Neurology, who wrote a corresponding editorial. "Also, milk consumption was measured only once at the start of the study, and we have to assume that this measurement represented participants' dietary habits over time."

Chen noted that the study is an excellent example of how epidemiological studies can contribute to the search for causes of Parkinson's disease.

This study was supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Department of the Army, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Kuakini Medical Center.

Be a ware Of Oxycontin Abuse For Neuropathy

Today's post from medicalnewstoday.com (see link below) talks about something that is very familiar to many neuropathy sufferers with more severe forms of the disease: addiction to the drug prescribed to help with the pain. Oxycontin (oxycodone) is prescribed by many neurologists and other doctors when all the normal medication routes have led to dead ends and the pain becomes too severe to bear. It is an opioid which was thought to be safer for long term use than other forms of morphine but like all drugs in the family, it can easily lead to addiction. Unfortunately, although the drug undoubtedly helps with the pain, the body gets used to it over time and needs more to achieve the same effect. Oxycontin has also become a recreational drug and is being crushed and snorted for a quick high. This has led to world wide examples of wide spread abuse. Nobody is suggesting that neuropathy patients are drug abusers, far from it but it is important that if you are prescribed this drug, your doctor regularly monitors progress and mentors your Oxycontin use. The problem for many neuropathy patients, is that there sometimes is just no alternative and the pain just has to be suppressed.

Strategy To Stop OxyContin Abuse Is Effective but Ineffective Overall
Article Date: 12 Jul 2012  Written by Rupert Shepherd

New England Journal of Medicine carries an article today, reviewing strategies that have been put in place to reduce the abuse of OxyContin. OxyContin (oxycodone) is the brand name of a pain killer medicine manufactured from thebaine extracted from the opium poppy.

Although oxcodone was originally synthesized in the early 20th Century, it's only recently become widely used. OxyContin is manufactured by Purdue Pharama, and was first FDA approved in 1995. It's popularity has increased rapidly in the last decade or so, with 11.5 tons produced in 1998, shooting to 51.6 tons in 2007. It's ranked amongst the top three pain killers after morphine.

The drug is taken orally, as a time release pill, so it's considered safer and less addictive than morphine injections. Patients can also administer it themselves. It has become popular for treatment for a wide range of conditions, from back pain to cancer patients.

Unfortunately oxycodone has also become a focus for recreational and addicted drug users. Prescription drugs are now more widely abused than the standard street drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. Supply is easier to come by locally, and quality and purity are more assured. The pills are commonly crushed so that they can be snorted or injected to give a faster more intense high.

Theodore J. Cicero, Ph.D. and Matthew S. Ellis, M.P.E. from Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO. conducted the study using data collected quarterly from July 1, 2009, through March 31, 2012. They gave the 2,566 opioid addicts, self-administered surveys that were completed anonymously following guidelines of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. More than 100 patients also agreed to telephone interviews

The results showed that abuse of OxyContin fell from 35% to just 12.8% twenty-one months after the formula was introduced to prevent tampering with the product. While some users indicated that they found ways to circumvent the tamper-proof pills, many switched to other opiates, with heroin being the most popular.

A common response ran along the lines of:

"Most people that I know don't use OxyContin to get high anymore. They have moved on to heroin [because] it is easier to use, much cheaper, and easily available."

Sadly though, the abusers didn't appear to reduce or curtail their addictions just because supply of OxyContin became unusable; they simply switched to other substances, while around a quarter of users simply found a way to defeat the anti-tamper formulation.

Use of other opioids have increased in line with the decrease in OxyContin use, with high-potency fentanyl and hydromorphone rising significantly from 20.1% to 32.3%.

When asked what substances they used to get high on during the last 30 days, usage of OxyContin fell from close to 50% down to only 30%, according to the participants' responses.

The researchers concluded that the overall outcome was not quite what might have been hoped for, when the manufacturer of OxyContin began producing tamper proof formulas. Although one specific drug was abused much less, addicts simply switched to other, potentially more harmful substances, including street heroin, which put the public at large in far more danger.

As Theodore Cicero of Washington University in St. Louis, first author of a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine put it:

"They didn't stop (abusing drugs). They turned to something else ... We should have asked the question ... If they stop using the most popular drug out there, what are they going to turn to now?"

We only have to look back to the 1920s prohibition era to see the disaster of illegal bars, moonshine alcohol and gangster feuds to understand that people will always want to get high and will always take risks to create supply, even in the face of massive government opposition. Despite building a vast government complex that is now the FBI, prohibition of alcohol as a recreational drug was an abject failure. Whilst far fewer numbers of people feel the need to take opiates on a daily basis, the sector of the population that does, will find a way to do so.

Many junkies claim it's easier to give up heroin than tobacco. Tobacco addiction is certainly more harmful and damaging to the health than a clean supply of opiate, and with a day's supply of heroin costing about the same price as a loaf of bread, when considered from a simple production point of view, the whole concept of banning opiates and driving them into the black market must seem to many as being about as relevant today as alcohol prohibition in the 1920s.

Even police and law enforcement agree, with the Police Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom of the North Wales Police, UK, stating as far back as 2004 that heroin should be made legal.

"Heroin is very addictive but it's not very, very dangerous,... It's perfectly possible to lead a normal life for a full life span and hold down a job while being addicted to the drug.

 The same statement cannot be made for those using large quantities of marijuana or alcohol on a daily basis.

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