Generalized Medicine for Peripheral Neuropathy

What the heck is generalized medicine? In short, it is the ability to diagnose multiple systems, such as the hormones and digestive system, regardless of the presenting symptom. It is an awareness of what any shift in body chemistry can do to all other functions.

A shift in the hormone cortisol can and will affect your heart, brain, joints, liver, thyroid, etc. But, in specialized medicine, if you have joint pain, you probably will never make it to the endocrine (hormone) specialist, because you have an orthopedic problem. Hmmm.

Let’s look at your condition as seen by specialist medicine…

Peripheral Neuropathy…you belong to the neurology specialty.

What Causes Peripheral Neuropathy? (By WEBMD)

Many things can cause peripheral neuropathies so it is often difficult to know the cause. Neuropathies occur by one of three methods:

Acquired neuropathies are caused by environmental factors such as toxins, trauma, illness, or infection. Known causes of acquired neuropathies include:

Diabetes - responsible for many cases of peripheral neuropathy

Several rare inherited diseases

Alcoholism

Poor nutrition or vitamin deficiency

Herniated discs in the back

Certain kinds of cancer

Conditions where nerves are mistakenly attacked by the body’s own immune system or damaged by an overaggressive response to injury

Certain medications

Kidney or thyroid disease

Infections such as Lyme disease, shingles, or AIDS

Idiopathic neuropathies are from an unknown cause. As many as one-third of all neuropathies are classified in this way.



That’s the causes…here are the treatments:



 Pain relievers. Mild symptoms may be relieved by over-the-counter pain medications. For more severe symptoms, your doctor may recommend prescription painkillers. Drugs containing opiates, such as codeine, can lead to dependence, constipation or sedation, so these drugs are generally prescribed only when other treatments fail.

 Anti-seizure medications. Drugs such as gabapentin (Neurontin), topiramate (Topamax), pregabalin (Lyrica), carbamazepine (Tegretol) and phenytoin (Dilantin) were originally developed to treat epilepsy. However, doctors often also prescribe them for nerve pain. Side effects may include drowsiness and dizziness.

 Antidepressants. Tricyclic antidepressant medications, such as amitriptyline and nortriptyline (Pamelor), were originally developed to treat depression. However, they have been found to help relieve pain by interfering with chemical processes in your brain and spinal cord that cause you to feel pain. The serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor duloxetine (Cymbalta) also has proved effective for peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes. Side effects may include nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, decreased appetite and constipation.

Ok, you already know this if you have peripheral neuropathy. But, do you see the disconnect here? They even talk about potential causes, but all the treatments are symptom based. Epilepsy drugs? Antidepressants? Pain meds??

I talk about the five metabolic causes of PN: Anemia, allergy, high cortisol, high insulin, and energy (ATP) production impairment. Throw in a physical cause we are all guilty of…lack of body stimulation through movement, and the net result is PN.

To correct peripheral neuropathy, you have to be a hormone doctor, immune doctor, hematologist, and nutritionist. You have to be a generalist!

A study that confirms our need for hormonal help…

Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol 76, 554-558 “Overall, these results suggest that diabetic neuropathy is associated with a specific and persistent increase in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal axis. (high cortisol)” National Library of Medicine

And how do we treat that?

“The results suggest that chronic oral administration of phosphatidylserine may counteract stress-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in man”. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1992;42(4):385-8.

For the non-researchers…this is research stating that high cortisol can cause peripheral neuropathy, AND, another study stating that the nutrient phosphatidyl serine can lower cortisol.

But, if you don’t have high cortisol this supplement will do next to nothing.

That’s science…diagnose the cause, treat the cause, resolve the problem.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Todd Stone