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Alcoholic polyneuropathy is a neurological disorder in which peripheral nerves throughout the body malfunction simultaneously.It is defined by axonal degeneration in neurons of both the sensory and motor systems and initially occurs at the distal ends of the longest axons in the body.
There are several causes of toxic optic neuropathy. [1] Among these are: ingestion of methanol (wood alcohol), ethylene glycol (automotive antifreeze), disulfiram (used to treat chronic alcoholism), halogenated hydroquinolones (amebicidal medications), ethambutol and isoniazid (tuberculosis treatment), and antibiotics such as linezolid and chloramphenicol as well as chloroquine and the related ...
Peripheral neuropathy may be classified according to the number and distribution of nerves affected (mononeuropathy, mononeuritis multiplex, or polyneuropathy), the type of nerve fiber predominantly affected (motor, sensory, autonomic), or the process affecting the nerves; e.g., inflammation (), compression (compression neuropathy), chemotherapy (chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy).
The causes of nerve damage are grouped into categories including those due to paraneoplastic causes (neuropathy secondary to cancer), immune mediated, infectious, inherited or degenerative causes and those due to toxin exposure. In idiopathic sensory neuronopathy no cause is identified. Idiopathic causes account for about 50% of cases. [2]
It usually begins in the hands and feet and may progress to the arms and legs and sometimes to other parts of the body where it may affect the autonomic nervous system. It may be acute or chronic. A number of different disorders may cause polyneuropathy, including diabetes and some types of Guillain–Barré syndrome. [4] [5] [6]
Some sufferers (10–15%) report various pains growing in severity with progression of the disease. [1] The nerves most commonly affected are the peroneal nerve at the fibular head (leg and feet), the ulnar nerve at the elbow (arm) and the median nerve at the wrist (palm, thumbs and fingers), but any peripheral nerve can be affected.
By the early 20th century the concept of mononeuropathies due to nerve lesions would be discussed (often called nerve palsy, neuropathy, or neuritis), however causes were still debated. [83] [84] One especially poorly understood form of neuropathy was a delayed onset nerve palsy, called tardy nerve palsy. [85]
Cheiralgia paraesthetica (Wartenberg's syndrome) is a neuropathy of the hand generally caused by compression or trauma to the superficial branch of the radial nerve. [1] [2] The area affected is typically on the back or side of the hand at the base of the thumb, near the anatomical snuffbox, but may extend up the back of the thumb and index finger and across the back of the hand.