Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease, also known as hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy, is an inherited disease that comes in groups and causes nerve damage mostly found in the arm and legs or the peripheral nerves.
Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease often appears during early adulthood and results in smaller and weaker muscles. When diagnosed with Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease, you may have difficulty walking, and you may feel loss of sensation and muscle contractions. Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease is generally found in the arms and legs but mostly starts in the legs. You may also experience foot deformities like hammertoes and high arches.
CAUSES
Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease is typically an inherited condition that occurs when mutations of genes are present. These gene mutations damage the nerves and usually affects the nerves in your feet, hand, arms, and legs. Other gene mutations impair or affect the protective coating surrounding the nerve or also called the myelin sheath. These damages cause weaker travel of information to your extremities and into your brain, which means that some muscles in your feet do not receive the signal from the brain to contract and cause you to trip or fall.
RISK FACTORS AND COMPLICATIONS
If anyone in your family has a history of being diagnosed with Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease, you may have been at high risk of developing the disease as it is hereditary. Also, the presence of diabetes in your body can help in the progression of the disease.
Some medications may worsen Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease like chemotherapy drugs such as paclitaxel, and other drugs. That’s why you need to inform your doctor about the medications you are currently taking if you have Charcot-Marie tooth disease.
Complications may vary depending on how severe it is to a person diagnosed with Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease such as foot abnormalities that may cause weaker muscles and injured areas that experience the least sensation. If muscles that control nerve function are affected with Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease, you may experience difficulty in breathing and speaking or even swallowing.
