Newswise — It often starts with seemingly innocent symptoms, like a faint tingling or numbness in the feet or hands. But over time, it can turn into excruciating pain or loss of feeling that can take over a person's life, causing permanent disability.
Neuropathy, as the condition is called, affects more than 20 million Americans — including half of all people with diabetes, and patients with other conditions that cause nerve inflammation and damage. Millions more are at risk but don't know it.
Now, the University of Michigan Health System has been designated by the Neuropathy Association as one of the first four Neuropathy Centers in the nation. The centers will receive funding to coordinate the care and support of neuropathy patients, educate doctors about the best diagnostic and treatment options, raise public awareness and pursue research on neuropathy.
On Wednesday, March 9, the new U-M Neuropathy Center will hold an all-morning educational program featuring the Neuropathy Association's executive director. The free public event will kick off the center's efforts to bring together many of the neuropathy-related research and clinical efforts already under way at the U-M. The new center will be housed in existing facilities of the U-M's Department of Neurology.
"We're proud to be selected as one of the first four Neuropathy Centers to be established in the U.S., and we look forward to offering patients more coordinated diagnosis and care, and access to clinical trials of promising treatments," says U-M neurologist Eva Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., who will direct the center. Feldman also directs the U-M Program for Understanding Neurological Diseases and the Center for the Study of Complications in Diabetes funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and holds the Russell N. DeJong professorship in neurology.
Feldman notes that the center will focus on all forms of neuropathy. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy, which occurs when high blood sugar and the immune system ravage nerve cells in the limbs and abdomen, is the most common, accounting for one in three cases. But there are also inherited neuropathies, and acquired ones such as Guillain-Barré syndrome. Arthritis, lupus and injuries can also cause neuropathy.
"We are pleased to be partnering with the University of Michigan Health System, one of the nation's most prestigious health care institutions. This center will eventually be joined by others at major medical schools, in a national network to raise awareness of neuropathy where medicine is taught, practiced and researched. These centers will become the hubs of broadly disseminated neuropathy education," says Donald G. Jacob, Ed.D., the Neuropathy Association's executive director.
The other neuropathy centers are at the University of California, San Francisco; the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in New York; and the University of Florida at Jacksonville.
U-M researchers are currently seeking participants for several clinical trials related to neuropathy, including one for people with type 1 (juvenile) diabetes, and another for people who are at high risk of developing type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes because of impaired glucose tolerance.
The study for people with type 1 diabetes involves a combination of three drugs that together may help reduce the level of harmful "free radical" oxygen in the body. The goal of this triple antioxidant therapy is to see if the drugs can prevent oxidative stress, a key process in the development of diabetic neuropathy.
The other study involves people with "pre-diabetes," or impaired glucose tolerance. Even though such people do not have full-blown diabetes, their bodies are already having a hard time removing the sugar from their blood. This may start to cause tingling or numbing in their limbs, as the nerves in those areas suffer the effects of high blood sugar. The study will assess whether two years of guidance on diet and exercise, and blood sugar monitoring, will help protect participants' nerves from damage.
For more information on diabetic neuropathy research at the U-M visit http://www.pfund.umich.edu.
In addition to the clinical trials, the new Neuropathy Center will see patients with any form of neuropathy who have been referred by their physician to U-M for advanced diagnostic tests and treatment.
The center will hold a clinic for neuropathy patients, as part of the Neuromuscular Clinic of the Department of Neurology. For more information on clinic visits, call (734) 936-9010.
In addition to Jacob, the March 9 event will feature talks by three U-M neuropathy experts: "¢ James Teener, M.D., clinical associate professor of Neurology and director of the U-M Neuromuscular Program, who will speak on progress in treating peripheral neuropathy pain"¢ James Albers, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and director of the U-M Electromyography Laboratory, who will speak on inflammatory neuropathies"¢ James Russell, M.D., M.S., associate professor of neurology and director of the Neurology Electrodiagnostic and Autonomic Laboratory at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, who will discuss the impact of today's obesity epidemic on the current and future state of peripheral neuropathy. Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
The opening event will be held in Dow Auditorium at the Towsley Center for Continuing Medical Education, in the U-M medical center complex at 1515 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor. Valet and garage parking are available. The event will begin with a breakfast at 9:30 a.m. and continue until noon.
About The Neuropathy Association — http://www.neuropathy.orgThe Neuropathy Association is a public, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide support through education and information; enhance physician, public and government awareness; encourage medical research and development; and advocate treatment access and coverage. Based in New York, The Neuropathy Association was formed in 1995 and is the leading patient resource and advocacy group in the fight against neuropathy. Its support is primarily derived from individual donations and with additional contributions from various industry sources. Currently with nearly 100,000 members and over 245 self-help support groups, the Association is growing rapidly and is a vital resource for patients.
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