Today's post from informationaboutdiabetes.com (see link below) talks about Yoga for neuropathy. When even fully fit people can struggle to master even basic yoga positions, the idea that it can be of benefit to neuropathy patients may seem a little far-fetched (or even downright impossible). However, this short article gives you three yoga poses that may well help with the symptoms. Clearly explained, if you're still not sure what you're supposed to do, look them up on Google images and all will become clear. Worth a try? What have you got to lose?
Yoga For People With Neuropathy By Jacqueline Marshall, Jun 11, 2015
Do not let pictures of yoga experts with their bodies twisted into bizarre, compact shapes fool you.
Even people with stiff muscles, creaky joints, problems with balance, tingling, or numbness can perform yoga asanas or poses.
Most poses can be altered to suit anyone’s flexibility and strength level, and many help relieve the distressing symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. The yoga video series by Peggy Cappy called Yoga For the Rest of Us is an excellent way to get gentle, effective yoga instruction—modified for health issues.
Three Poses for Neuropathy
Here are three yoga postures that can diminish neuropathy symptoms, calm the nervous system, and increase mental focus.
Knee To Chest
This pose strengthens muscles that might have been weakened by neuropathy, and massages the abdominal organs.
Lie on your back, legs outstretched, arms at your sides, toes pointing up.
Bring the right knee to your chest and grasp its shin with both hands, or the forearms.
Slowly lift your head, bringing the forehead to the knee; hold this position several moments, and keep breathing.
Lower your head and leg back to the floor; repeat with the left leg.
Repeat the exercise two to four times.
Gentle Toe Stretch
Try this pose to relieve numbness and tingling in the feet. It increases foot circulation and toe flexibility.
Sit on the floor in a cross-leg position.
Thread your left hand fingers between the left toes, and right hand fingers between the right toes.
Spread your fingers apart to give the toes a gentle stretch.
Hold the toe stretch for a few moments - continue to breath - then relax your fingers.
Repeat several times.
Downward Facing Dog
Inverting the body strengthens core muscles, stimulates the endocrine system, and soothes the central nervous system. It may relieve joint pain or stiffness, and ease the numbness of neuropathy.
Start on your hands and knees, wrists directly under the shoulders, knees directly below the hips, bottoms of the toes on the mat or rug.
Press with the palms and lift your knees off the floor; slowly straighten the legs until your body forms the outline of an “A.” (If you cannot straighten your legs, it is okay to keep them bent.)
Imagine your hips and thighs are being pulled backward from the top of the thighs.
Continue breathing, gaze between the legs or toward your abdomen, and hold this position as long as you comfortably can.
Slowly bend your knees and come back to the starting position.
Talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise regimen such a yoga, especially if you have been a long-time couch potato, or have back, neck, and joint problems. You should feel a stretch when doing yoga poses, but never push yourself to the point of pain.
Source: Molecular Lab USA
http://www.informationaboutdiabetes.com/lifestyle/lifestyle/yoga-for-people-with-neuropathy
Today's post from aboutlawsuits.com (see link below) takes us back to an older problem for potential neuropathy sufferers and that is nerve damage cause by fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Despite it seeming like an age since this was first highlighted, the subject is finally reaching the courts and hopefully, pharmaceutical companies will now be held responsible for the damage they've caused (and continue to cause). This article is a news update but also a continued warning about fluoroquinolones and nerve damage. It's a warning you would do well to heed because doctors across the world still blithely prescribe these pills, seemingly unaware of the dangers. There are many other articles on this subject here on the blog - use the search button to find them and then make your own minds up (or at least have a serious discussion with your prescribing doctor). There are always alternatives to fluoroquinolones (the main brand names are mentioned below) but you may need to point this out to your doctor.
November 18, 2016 Written by: Irvin Jackson
A group of 48 plaintiffs have filed a joint lawsuit indicating that they have been left with peripheral neuropathy from Levaquin, Avelox and Cipro antibiotic treatments, suffering painful and debilitating nerve damage.
The complaint (PDF) was filed late last month in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, naming Bayer Healthcare, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen subsidiary as defendants.
Each of the plaintiffs indicate they developed a form of nerve damage known as peripheral neuropathy, with some of the plaintiffs experiencing fatal injuries.
Peripheral neuropathy involves damage to the nerves that may impair sensation, movement and other aspects of health. This typically leaves users with persistent pain, burning, tingling, numbness, weakness and sensitivity to light touches, temperature and motion in the arms and legs, as well as other problems that cause a major disruption to daily activities.
The case joins hundreds of other Levaquin lawsuits, Avelox lawsuits and Cipro lawsuits filed on behalf of individuals nationwide, each raising similar allegations that the drug makers failed to provide adequate warnings for users and the medical community about the risk of permanent peripheral neuropathy from the antibiotics, which may continue long after the medication is no longer used.
Prior warnings provided with the medications, which are part of a class of drugs known as fluoroquinolones, suggested that reports of nerve damage were rare and typically resolved after the drug was no longer used. However, the FDA required the manufacturers to update the warning label in August 2013, indicating that in many cases that peripheral neuropathy from Avelox, Levaquin and Cipro is permanent.
“[R]ather than warning patients and physicians that the use of Fluoroquinolones may result in permanent nerve damage, Defendants instead adopted a warning that misleadingly indicated such damage was rare and in any event could be avoided by simply discontinuing the drug upon the onset of certain symptoms,” the joint lawsuit filed last month on behalf of nearly 50 people states. “Defendants’ failure to adequately warn physicians resulted in (1) patients receiving Fluoroquinolones instead of another acceptable and adequate non-fluoroquinolone antibiotic, sufficient to treat the illness for which Plaintiffs presented to the provider; (2) and physicians failing to warn and instruct consumers about the risk of peripheral nervous system injuries associated with Fluoroquinolones.”
Given the risk of nerve damage and other injuries associated with the antibiotics, the FDA issued a new drug safety communication in May 2016, urging doctors not to prescribe Avelox, Levaquin, Cipro or other fluoroquinolones for many common infections that are uncomplicated and have other available treatment options, indicating that the risks associated with the antibiotics outweigh the benefits. The federal regulatory agency considered available information on the risk of peripheral neuropathy, tendon ruptures, retinal detachments and other health concerns linked to the drugs at that time.
Antibiotic Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuits
This recent complaint will be consolidated with about 600 other claims pending in the federal court system, which are centralized for pretrial proceedings before U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim in the District of Minnesota, as part of an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation.
Given similar questions of fact and law raised in the lawsuits over peripheral neuropathy from the antibiotics, the cases are being coordinated during discovery, bellwether trials and other pretrial litigation.
Judge Tunheim will hold a “Science Day” in the peripheral neuropathy litigation in January 2017, at which time the parties will present scientific information in a non-adversarial manner designed to educate the court about issues that will come up in the litigation.
It is expected that a small group of cases in the MDL will ultimately be selected for a series of “bellwether” trials, which are designed to help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that is likely to be repeated throughout a number of claims. While the outcomes of these early trial dates are not binding on other claims, they may help facilitate potential peripheral neuropathy settlements for individuals who have been left with the severe and debilitating nerve damage from Avelox, Levaquin or Cipro.
As the peripheral neuropathy cases move forward, the drug makers also face an increasing number of aortic aneurysm lawsuits and aortic dissection lawsuits that are being investigated by individuals nationwide, as recent studies have suggested that medications may cause collagen degradation issues throughout the body, impacting the aorta.
Plaintiffs in those cases point out that users and doctors have never been provided any warning about the risk of an aortic aneurysm or dissection from Avelox, Levaquin or Cipro.
Related Stories
Avelox Nerve Damage Lawsuit Filed Over Failure to Warn About Antibiotic Risks (8/12/2016)
Antibiotic Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuits Will Not Be Designated as Mass Tort in Philly (2/8/2016)
Levaquin Lawsuit Over Nerve Damage Alleges J&J Violated RICO Act (1/22/2016)
Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Side Effects Warrant Stronger Warnings: FDA Panel (11/9/2015)
Levaquin, Cipro, Avelox Risks Pose A Concern In Face of Modest Benefits: FDA Reviewers (11/4/2015)
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/lawsuit-peripheral-neuropathy-avelox-levaquin-114067/
