ANN ARBOR, MI (University of Michigan) - A study looking at the nerve damage in people's extremities had some surprising results. Ellie Janszen tells us that many Americans could have neuropathy and have never been diagnosed.
More than 20 million Americans have nerve damage in their extremities, known as neuropathy, but experts suggest that number could be significantly higher. A study conducted by the University of Michigan and Hurley Medical Center found that nearly three-quarters of patients at a primary care clinic had nerve damage, and 75% of it was undiagnosed.
The neurologist who led the study says while they knew neuropathy was common, they found so much more than they expected.
"A lot of those people didn't realize that they had neuropathy; they didn't realize that the pain or the numbness and tingling they were having was from neuropathy, which you can imagine is a huge problem. Because if you don't understand why you're where your symptoms are coming from, then you don't know how to manage them. You don't know how to treat them. And that certainly affects your quality of life and what you can do," says Dr. Melissa Elafros, a neurologist at the University of Michigan Health.
Untreated neuropathy can lead to multiple problems, including foot trauma and potential amputation. Dr. Elafros says many patients are suffering in silence and not bringing up the symptoms to their doctors.
"We've learned that when patients come to primary care doctors, they often have multiple concerns, and neuropathy symptoms are not at the top of their list. So as a neurologist, we need to come up with a better way to help screen for this problem. So that primary care doctors can detect neuropathy symptoms early and help address them before patients start to have complications," adds Dr. Elafros.
Neuropathy is most commonly caused by diabetes; consult your primary care physician if you have questions about the condition.
