It’s important to speak with a healthcare professional if you experience any symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. Early diagnosis and treatment can help increase your chances of fully recovering. Symptoms of alcohol-related neuropathy are similar to those of peripheral neuropathy. These can affect both your controlled and involuntary movements, as well as sensations. Alcoholism, now called alcohol use disorder (AUD), is a condition in which you have difficulty stopping or managing your alcohol intake despite experiencing negative consequences.
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Alcoholic neuropathy damages the nerves due to prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption. This damage prevents the nerves from communicating information from one body area to another. Fortunately, after receiving a diagnosis, people with alcoholic neuropathy can make healthy changes to minimize symptoms and receive help for chronic alcohol use. During the initial stages of ALN, the disease may appear asymptomatic and demonstrable only on electroneurographic investigation 71, 111, 112. Because ALN is a length-dependent axonopathy, it manifests mainly in a “stocking-glove” form, affecting the lower extremities at the beginning 28, 113.
What is Alcoholic Neuropathy?
Besides, approximately 55% of men with AAN develop erectile dysfunctions 167. Cardiac arrhythmias in patients with AAN might increase the probability of sudden cardiac death, which is probably due to toxic effects of alcohol on a cardiac muscle that is also observed in alcoholic cardiomyopathy 168, 169. Epidermal nerve fibre density was assessed in two studies, both of which supported decremental nerve fibre density distally in the lower limb, anecdotally supportive of a length-dependent pattern 53, 63.
Treatment for alcoholic neuropathy
Navarro et al. (1993) showed that nearly half of the alcohol-dependent patients without AAN symptoms and any aberrations in electrophysiologic studies presented abnormal SSR results 163. In a similar study, SSR was used to assess the number of reactive sweat glands (SGN), which turned out to be decreased in alcohol-dependent patients 164. The mechanism of direct damage of nerve fibers due to alcohol intoxication remains unclear. Activation of spinal cord microglia, mGlu5 spinal cord receptors, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis appear to be implicated in this process 92,93,94,95,96,97. Oxidative stress also leads to the indirect damage of nerve fibers via the release of free radicals and proinflammatory cytokines with protein kinase C and ERK kinase phosphorylation 98,99,100,101.
It has previously been considered in relationship to nutritional, especially thiamine, deficiencies seen in alcoholics. Thiamine deficiency is closely related to chronic alcoholism and can induce neuropathy alcohol neuropathy treatment in alcoholic patients. Ethanol diminishes thiamine absorption in the intestine, reduces hepatic stores of thiamine and affects the phosphorylation of thiamine, which converts it to its active form 12.
Progression of symptoms is usually gradual, continuing over months or years 2, 4. Electrophysiologic and pathologic findings mainly indicate axonal neuropathy with reduced nerve fibre densities. Densities of small myelinated fibres and unmyelinated fibres were more severely reduced than the density of large myelinated fibres, except in patients with a long history of neuropathic symptoms and marked axonal sprouting 2.
Malnutrition and Micronutrients Deficiency
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- In an animal model, Kaur et al. (2017) showed that curcumin and sildenafil administrated alone or in combination represent a therapeutic advantage in alcohol-induced neuropathic pain 176.
- Some people experience a faster onset and progression of alcoholic neuropathy than others.
- Disruption of neuron-specific neurofilaments or neuronal death initiates the primary process of alcohol-related neurodegeneration 37.
Due to similar histologic and electrophysiological symptoms, it was believed that ALN may make up a subtype of beriberi 146. Further research has confirmed the role of thiamine in the pathogenesis of ALN—the well-balanced diet and vitamin B1 supplementation significantly decreased the severity of ALN symptoms 147, 148. However, the limitations of those studies include the lack of the possibility to measure the amount of vitamin B1 in the serum; further, patients who were involved in the study have received an unrefined form of the supplement. Later, the results have been supported by Victor and Adams (1961)—among 12 patients with ALN, neuropathic symptoms were alleviated just after thiamine supplementation, even though the amphetamine addiction treatment alcohol consumption was previously completely reduced 149. Koike et al. (2003) compared clinical and histological differences between ALN with and without thiamine deficiency 65.
FAQs on Alcoholic Neuropathy
Electrical nerve stimulation sends a small electrical current through the skin and nerves that can help with sensitivities and pain, making it an option for treatment. Alternative therapies like chiropractic care, body manipulation, acupuncture, meditation, and massage therapy can be helpful in managing pain and symptoms of alcoholic polyneuropathy. The main goal of a treatment program for alcoholic polyneuropathy is to improve quality of life and offer relief from symptoms. Alcoholic neuropathy is a condition in which the nerves become damaged as a result of years of heavy alcohol consumption. Symptoms include burning pain in the body, hyperalgesia (increased sensitivity to pain), and allodynia (a condition in which normal stimulus, like a soft touch, produces pain).
She has over a decade of direct patient care experience working as a registered nurse specializing in neurotrauma, stroke, and the emergency room.