ABSTRACT
Complementary Therapies in Neurology: An Evidence-Based Approach Edited by Barry S.Oken ISBN 1-84214-200-3 Copyright © 2004 by The Parthenon Publishing Group, London
Peripheral neuropathy is a common disorder with many manifestations and many etiologies, with a prevalence of about 2% increasing with age up to about 8%1,2. Individual nerves may be affected, as in carpal tunnel syndrome, or multiple nerves may be affected, as in diabetic polyneuropathy. Peripheral neuropathies may predominantly affect small nerve fibers or large fibers, and be predominantly demyelinating or axonal. Common symptoms for peripheral neuropathy are weakness and altered sensation, including painful sensations. This chapter is organized by underlying etiology because the diverse causes of peripheral neuropathy often have no similarity, for example carpal tunnel syndrome related to repetitive motion injury and toxic neuropathy secondary to cisplatin. Review of the literature for this chapter was generally limited to controlled peripheral neuropathy clinical trials published in English.
