Tingling and numbness in the hands and feet may be caused by neuropathy. This disorder, linked to nerve damage, is underdiagnosed.
- Pins and needles in the hands and toes may be a sign of neuropathy.
- These nerve damage can cause falls or even amputations.
- They are common but yet underdiagnosed.
If you often feel tingling in your toes or tingling in your hands, it’s best to talk to a doctor. These signs may be symptoms of neuropathy. According to a new study, published in Neurologythese nerve injuries are very common and underdiagnosed.
What is neuropathy?
They affect the peripheral nervous system, which is no longer able to transport information to the central nervous system. This blocks certain motor responses and can cause different symptoms. “More than a third of people with neuropathy experience sharp or shock-like pain, which increases their rates of depression and decreases their quality of lifesays lead author of the study Melissa A. Elafros, a researcher at the University of Michigan. People with neuropathy are also at increased risk of early death, even when their other conditions are taken into account.” These injuries can also lead to falls, infections or even amputation.
Neuropathy: what are the risk factors?
To understand the frequency of this pathology, this American research team recruited 169 participants, aged 58 on average. “Half of people had diabetes, which can cause neuropathywarn the authors. In total, 67% had metabolic syndrome, defined as excess abdominal fat associated with at least two of the following risk factors: high blood pressure, higher than normal triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood), high blood sugar and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or ‘good’ cholesterol.” These different risk factors are also associated with neuropathy. As part of their work, American scientists took into account the different factors that can affect the risk of neuropathy, they discovered that people with metabolic syndrome were more than four times more likely to suffer from neuropathy than people without. -affected.
Neuropathy, a common and underdiagnosed disease
In total, 73% of people had neuropathy and 60% experienced painful symptoms. According to the authors, three quarters of affected participants had never received a diagnosis. “The number of people with neuropathy in this study, particularly undiagnosed neuropathies, was extraordinarily high.”, underlines Melissa A. Elafros. For her, several lessons must be learned from these results: the need to improve access to diagnosis, better management of the pathology and more prevention of risk factors.
