Neuritis

Neuritis – General Information

Neuritis is the general inflammation of the peripheral nervous system (which extends outside the central nervous system-the brain and the spinal cord- in order to serve the limbs and organs. Unlike the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system is exposed to toxins and injuries as it is not protected by bones.
Here are the causes that lead to Neuritis:

• Infections such as:
• Herpes simplex
• Herpes Zoster – also known as Shingles is the reactivation of the virus which causes varicella.
• Leprosy – also known as Hansen’s disease is a chronic infectious disease caused by a bacterium named Mycobacterium Leprae.
• Guillane Barre syndrome – is an acute, autoimmune polyradiculoneuropathy that affects the peripheral nervous system.
• Radiation
• Physical injury
• Chemical injury

Neuritis can also be localized, and in this case it affects a single nerve, and here are the causes:

• Localized injury
• Diabetes - is a syndrome characterized by high sugar levels in the blood and disordered metabolism.
• Diphtheria – is the illness of the upper respiratory tract characterized by: fever, sore throat, etc.

Polyneuritis affects multiple nerves and here are its causes:

• Diabetes
• Metabolic diseases
• Bacterial and/or viral infections
• Cancer
• Hypothyroidism
• Porphyria – a class of inherited disorders of some enzymes
• Vitamin B12 deficiency
• Beriberi – is a nervous system ailment caused by the deficiency of the vitamin B1.
• Alcoholism
• Wartenberg’s migratory sensory neuropathy – is a rare disease discovered by Robert Wartenberg in 1958.

Neuritis – Symptoms

It is well known that any medical disorder (including Neuritis) can trigger a variety of symptoms. Therefore, some of this medical condition's most uncommon symptoms have not been listed here. This is why we strongly recommend you to contact your personal health care provider whenever you develop any unusual, bothersome or unpleasant symptoms. Your personal physician will be able to tell you if you are suffering from Neuritis or from any other medical disorder. There are several forms of Neuritis such as:

• Polyneuritis – is the widespread inflammation of the nerves.
• Multiple neuritis.
• Peripheral neuritis – it is characterized by the inflammation of the peripheral nerves.
• Localized neuritis.

The symptoms differ depending on the nerve or nerves that are affected, but can include:

• pain
• Paresthesia paresis -  is the sensation of tingling and pricking of a person’s skin
• Hypoesthesia, also known as numbness – meaning reduced sense of touch and sensation
• Anesthesia
• Paralysis – complete loss of muscle functions
• Wasting
• Disappearing of the reflexes
• Local pain
• Neuralgia – meaning a pain associated with a specific nerve
• Ulcerated skin
• Shiny skin
• Muscle atrophy
• Sensory loss
• Patients may also experience a burning in the affected area
• Loss of vision in the eyes, in the case of the optic form of this disorder
• Pins-and-needles sensations
• Stabbing
• A slight loss of muscle tone to paralysis
• Temporary paralysis of the face
• Inability to close the eyes
• Drooping wrists
• Foot and hand pain
• Gait abnormalities
• Breathing difficulty
• Heart symptoms

Neuritis – Treatment

The most common type of Neuritis is the optic form of this disorder, which refers to any degeneration or inflammation in the optic nerve. It is a cause of acute vision loss and it is associated with Multiple sclerosis. When a single nerve is affected the disease is called mononeuritis and if there are more than one nerves affected the disease is called polyneuritis. What determines the appearance of the optic form of this disorder is:

• Nerve damage
• Viral illness
• Blood supply disorders to the optic nerve
• Meningitis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Tuberculosis
• Demyelination 
• Syphilis
• Paranasal sinus infection

Here are some home remedies for this kind of Neuritis:

• One cup of Soya bean milk mixed with one spoon of honey every night for three to four months
• Soak Soya beans in water for 12 hours, peel, wash and grind them to a fine paste. Add water and boil the paste well.
• Boil a spoon of Barley with two glasses of water, let it cool and strain it. Add one cup of buttermilk and lime juice. This needs to be drinking two times a day.

Optic Neuritis usually occurs suddenly. Your ophthalmologist will determine this by looking in the back of you eye with an instrument called ophthalmoscope, can see any optic nerve swelling and tell you if you are suffering from Optic Neuritis. This disease may be confused with other causes of poor vision. Usually Optic Neuritis gets better on its own, but in some cases steroid medications is needed to treat the disease, because this medication helps to reduce the inflammation in the optic nerve. The steroid treatment may include:

• Intravenous steroids - patients will receive steroid medication intravenously for several days. This treatment can accelerate the vision recovery but it does not affect the extent to which the patients will recover their vision.
• Oral steroids – after the first step of the therapy (meaning the intravenous steroids), patients usually receive oral steroids that are called prednisone for several weeks.  You have to follow these steps because using only oral steroids alone to treat this disease it is associated with a high risk of recurrence.

In the cases in which the steroid treatment fails and sever loss vision persists there is a treatment called plasma exchange therapy that helps some patients to recover their vision. Occasionally, if there is a concomitant increased intracranial pressure than the sheath around the optic nerve can be cut to decrease the pressure. In most of the cases as we said before visual functions usually return within 8 to ten weeks, but there is a risk to advance to a complete and permanent loss of vision. Therefore treatment with corticosteroids may quicken the healing of the optic nerve, but in the case when the optic form of this disorder is associated with Multiple sclerosis then general immunosuppressive therapy for the Multiple sclerosis is prescribed.
The treatment for Multiple sclerosis includes:

• Interferons – are medication derived from the human cytokines which help to regulate the immune system.
• Glatiramer acetate – a synthetic medication
• Mitxantrone
• Natalizumab