Alcoholic Neuropathy: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

Monforte et al. included patients with nutritional deficiency but did not demonstrate a relationship between nutritional status and autonomic neuropathy 29. In this study, autonomic dysfunction therefore occurred in the absence of B12 deficiency, excluding this as a central requirement to the pathogenesis in patients in this study 53. Clinical features of alcoholic peripheral neuropathy develop slowly, extending over a period of months and include abnormalities in sensory, motor, autonomic and gait functions.

Nerve conduction studies and electromyography

• Active denervation (presence of positive waves and fibrillations) was also present in the majority of patients.
• However, nerve damage is sometimes permanent, and your symptoms are likely to worsen if you don’t stop drinking.
• The most important strategy against alcoholic neuropathy lies in preventing the symptoms from getting worse by decreasing alcohol consumption as soon as possible.
• Individuals with alcoholic neuropathy can make a partial or full recovery, depending on the extent and duration of their alcohol consumption.
• Call for an appointment with your provider if you have symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy.

You may also benefit from a support group to help you reduce your drinking or completely quit drinking alcohol. The diagnosis of alcoholic neuropathy involves a combination of medical history, physical examination, and possibly blood tests or nerve tests such as electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction studies (NCV). Both the toxicity of alcohol and nutritional deficiencies have been linked with alcoholic neuropathy, which is one of the most common but least recognizable consequences of heavy alcohol use. Learn more about this condition, including its symptoms, how it’s treated, and ways to cope.

What Are the Causes of This Type of Nerve Damage?

All condition, treatment and wellness content is medically reviewed by at least one medical professional ensuring the most accurate information possible. Because the symptoms of alcoholic neuropathy can be similar to those of other conditions, your doctor may first rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. The psychological impact of chronic conditions such as alcoholic neuropathy should not be underestimated. Counseling or therapy can help us cope with the emotional and mental challenges of a lengthy recovery process. Impotence, diarrhea, constipation, or other symptoms are treated when necessary. These symptoms often respond poorly to treatment in people with alcoholic neuropathy.

Alcoholism and Alcoholic Neuropathy

As supported by immunostaining, the membrane fraction showed that spinal mGluR5 concentrations in ethanol-treated rats were significantly increased compared with those in the control diet group. These findings support the idea that the increased number of membrane-bound mGluR5 following chronic ethanol consumption may lead to a long lasting activation of neuronal protein kinase C in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. This phenomenon may be responsible for the induction of the neuropathic pain like behaviour following chronic ethanol consumption. Not only mGluRs but ionotropic glutamate (NMDA) receptors are also involved in alcoholic-induced neuropathic pain. Medical News Today publishes that medical procedures and therapies, medications, and adjunctive and alternative therapies are commonly used to treat alcoholic polyneuropathy.

Outlook of alcoholic neuropathy

• Nerves help you to move (motor nerves) and feel physical sensations (sensory nerves).
• In general, it takes years for alcoholic neuropathy to develop, so a long-standing history of heavy alcohol use is typical.

Two of these only identified a correlation with results from deep breathing tests 25, 29, and one found a correlation only with heart rate and blood pressure responses to standing 2. The final paper did not identify a correlation with any specific investigation of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunctions 38. Only one paper by Ferdinandis and De Silva was unable to find any correlation between the TLDE and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction 39. However, the TLDE is subject to a degree of recall bias and Drug rehabilitation could be argued is particularly prone to under-reporting given the negative connotation regarding excessive alcohol consumption.

The precise mechanisms responsible for toxicity on the peripheral nervous system, however, have not yet been clarified. The amount of ethanol which causes clinically neuropathy from alcohol use evident peripheral neuropathy is also still unknown. Chronic alcohol consumption can have deleterious effects on the central and peripheral nervous systems. One of the most common adverse effects seen in patients with chronic alcohol use disorder is alcohol neuropathy.