Reduce Neuropathy Problems Avoid Aspartame

Today's post from huffingtonpost.com (see link below) talks about the dangers of articial sweeteners and in particular, Aspartame. There have been rumours for years on the neuropathy circuits that aspartame can be responsible for severe nerve damage. It's not just the small pills you put in your tea or coffee but is present as a sweetener in dozens of everyday prepared foods. Now. because of increasing adverse publicity, manufacturers are changing product names to mislead people into thinking they're not eating aspartame. Just why it's so dangerous is outlined in this article but as with all things like this, you really must make up your own minds as to whether you take them seriously or not. This article gives one side of the argument.

America's Deadliest Sweetener Betrays Millions, Then Hoodwinks You With Name Change 
Dr. Joseph Mercola  11/17/2011

Aspartame is the most controversial food additive in history, and its approval for use in food was the most contested in FDA history. In the end, the artificial sweetener was approved, not on scientific grounds, but rather because of strong political and financial pressure. After all, aspartame was previously listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent!

It's hard to believe such a chemical would be allowed into the food supply, but it was, and it has been wreaking silent havoc with people's health for the past 30 years.

The truth is, it should never have been released onto the market, and allowing it to remain in the food chain is seriously hurting people -- no matter how many times you rebrand it under fancy new names.

The Deceptive Marketing of Aspartame

Sold commercially under names like NutraSweet, Canderel and now AminoSweet, aspartame can be found in more than 6,000 foods, including soft drinks, chewing gum, table-top sweeteners, diet and diabetic foods, breakfast cereals, jams, sweets, vitamins, prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Aspartame producer Ajinomoto chose to rebrand it under the name AminoSweet, to "remind the industry that aspartame tastes just like sugar, and that it's made from amino acids -- the building blocks of protein that are abundant in our diet."

This is deception at its finest: begin with a shred of truth, and then spin it to fit your own agenda.

In this case, the agenda is to make you believe that aspartame is somehow a harmless, natural sweetener made with two amino acids that are essential for health and present in your diet already.

They want you to believe aspartame delivers all the benefits of sugar and none of its drawbacks. But nothing could be further from the truth.

How Aspartame Wreaks Havoc on Your Health

Did you know there have been more reports to the FDA for aspartame reactions than for all other food additives combined?

In fact, there are over 10,000 official complaints, but by the FDA's own admission, less than 1 percent of those who experience a reaction to a product ever report it. So in all likelihood, the toxic effects of aspartame may have affected roughly a million people already.

While a variety of symptoms have been reported, almost two-thirds of them fall into the neurological and behavioral category consisting mostly of headaches, mood alterations, and hallucinations. The remaining third is mostly gastrointestinal symptoms.

This chart will familiarize you with some of the terrifying side-effects and health problems you could encounter if you consume products containing this chemical.

Unfortunately, aspartame toxicity is not well-known by doctors, despite its frequency. Diagnosis is also hampered by the fact that it mimics several other common health conditions, such as:



How Diet Foods and Drinks CAUSE Weight Problems

In recent years, food manufacturers have increasingly focused on developing low-calorie foods and drinks to help you maintain a healthy weight and avoid obesity. Unfortunately, the science behind these products is so flawed, most of these products can actually lead to increased weight gain!

For example, researchers have discovered that drinking diet soda increases your risk of metabolic syndrome, and may double your risk of obesity -- the complete opposite of the stated intention behind these "zero calorie" drinks.

The sad truth is that diet foods and drinks ruin your body's ability to count calories, and in fact stimulate your appetite, thus boosting your inclination to overindulge.

Unfortunately, most public health agencies and nutritionists in the United States recommend these toxic artificial sweeteners as an acceptable alternative to sugar, which is at best confusing and at worst harming the health of those who take their misguided advice.

Even More Toxic Dangers of Aspartame

Truly, there is enough evidence showing the dangers of consuming artificial sweeteners to fill an entire book -- which is exactly why I wrote Sweet Deception. If you or your loved ones drink diet beverages or eat diet foods, this book will explain how you've been deceived about the truth behind artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose -- for greed, for profits, and at the expense of your health.

As mentioned earlier, almost two-thirds of all documented side effects of aspartame consumption are neurological.

One of the reasons for this side effect, researchers have discovered, is because the phenylalanine in aspartame dissociates from the ester bond. While these amino acids are indeed completely natural and safe, they were never designed to be ingested as isolated amino acids in massive quantities, which in and of itself will cause complications.

Additionally this will also increase dopamine levels in your brain. This can lead to symptoms of depression because it distorts your serotonin/dopamine balance. It can also lead to migraine headaches and brain tumors through a similar mechanism.

The aspartic acid in aspartame is a well-documented excitotoxin. Excitotoxins are usually amino acids, such as glutamate and aspartate. These special amino acids cause particular brain cells to become excessively excited, to the point that they die.

Excitotoxins can also cause a loss of brain synapses and connecting fibers. A review conducted in 2008 by scientists from the University of Pretoria and the University of Limpopo found that consuming a lot of aspartame may inhibit the ability of enzymes in your brain to function normally, and may lead to neurodegeneration.

According to the researchers, consuming a lot of aspartame can disturb:
The metabolism of amino acids
Protein structure and metabolism
The integrity of nucleic acids
Neuronal function
Endocrine balances

Furthermore, the ester bond in aspartame breaks down to formaldehyde and methanol, which are also toxic in their own right. So it is not surprising that this popular artificial sweetener has also been found to cause cancer.

One truly compelling case study that shows this all too well was done by a private citizen named Victoria Inness-Brown. She decided to perform her own aspartame experiment on 108 rats over a period of 2 years and 8 months.

Daily, she fed some of the rats the equivalent (for their body weight) of two-thirds the aspartame contained in 8-oz of diet soda. Thirty-seven percent of the females fed aspartame developed tumors, some of massive size.

How to Ditch Artificial Sweeteners, and Satiate Your Sweet Tooth

If you suffer from sweet cravings, it's easy to convince yourself you're doing the right thing by opting for a zero-calorie sweetener like aspartame. Please understand that you will do more harm than good to your body this way.

First, it's important to realize that your body craves sweets when you're not giving it the proper fuel it needs.

Finding out your nutritional type will tell you exactly which foods you need to eat to feel full and satisfied. It may sound hard to believe right now, but once you start eating right for your nutritional type, your sweet cravings will significantly lessen and may even disappear.

Meanwhile, be sure you address the emotional component to your food cravings using a tool such as the Meridian Tapping Technique (MTT). More than any traditional or alternative method I have used or researched, MTT works to overcome food cravings and helps you reach dietary success.

And, if diet soda is the culprit for you, be sure to check out Turbo Tapping, which is an extremely effective and simple tool to get rid of your soda addiction in a short period of time.

Non-Acceptable Alternative Sweeteners

I have written a few articles on fructose earlier this year, and I will be writing many more, so please be aware that I am absolutely convinced that fructose ingestion is at the core of our obesity epidemic.

And I'm not only talking about high fructose corn syrup, which is virtually identical to table sugar. The only major difference between the two is HFCS is much cheaper so it has contributed to massive increase in fructose ingestion, far beyond safe or healthy.

Please understand you need to keep your fructose levels BELOW 25 grams per day. The best way to do that is to avoid these "natural" sweeteners as they are loaded with a much higher percentage of fructose than HFCS.
Fruit Juice
Agave
Honey

Please note that avoiding these beyond 25 grams per day is crucial, even if the source is fresh, raw, and organic. It just doesn't matter, fructose is fructose is fructose ...

Acceptable Alternative Sweeteners

For those times when you just want a taste of something sweet, your healthiest alternative is Stevia. It's a natural plant and, unlike aspartame and other artificial sweeteners that have been cited for dangerous toxicities, it is a safe, natural alternative that's ideal if you're watching your weight, or if you're maintaining your health by avoiding sugar.

It is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and truly has virtually no calories.

I must tell you that I am biased; I prefer Stevia as my sweetener of choice, and I frequently use it. However, like most choices, especially sweeteners, I recommend using Stevia in moderation, just like sugar. In excess it is still far less likely to cause metabolic problems than sugar or any of the artificial sweeteners.

I want to emphasize, that if you have insulin issues, I suggest that you avoid sweeteners altogether, including Stevia, as they all can decrease your sensitivity to insulin.

Lo han is another sweetener like Stevia. It's an African sweet herb that can also be used, but it's a bit more expensive and harder to find.

So if you struggle with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or extra weight, then you have insulin sensitivity issues and would benefit from avoiding ALL sweeteners.

But for everyone else, if you are going to sweeten your foods and beverages anyway, I strongly encourage you to consider using regular Stevia or Lo han, and toss out all artificial sweeteners and any products that contain them.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/americas-deadliest-sweete_b_630549.html

Having Problems Convincing Social Security That Your Neuropathy Is A Serious Condition Vid

Today's video is a very useful one, not just for people in the US living with neuropathy trying to claim disability benefits but people all over the world in the same situation. Of course, outside the US you will need to deal with your own local authorities but the information in this video applies to everyone with nerve damage who need to convince the authorities that their condition is real and deserving of social security support. Well worth 5 minutes of your time.

Nerve Pain or Neuropathy and SSDI Claims
Published 12th february 2015

Are you applying for Social Security disability benefits based on nerve pain or neuropathy? While pain is a factor in many different types of SSDI or SSI claims, my experience has been that disability judges are very often receptive to nerve pain cases.

As discussed in this video, severe nerve pain often arises from significant medical problems - conditions that include:
diabetes
HIV/AIDS
herniated disc
spinal stenosis
autoimmune diseases

Or nerve pain may be idiopathic, meaning that there is no definitive cause.

Whatever the reason for your nerve pain, you will need a clear strategy to convince a Social Security judge that you meet SSA’s definition of disability. I hope this video helps you better understand what the judge is looking for and what evidence you will need.

Want more information about winning your Social Security disability case? Visit my web site at http://www.georgiasocialsecuritydisab... or call my office. Visit http://www.ssdanswers.com/free-case-r... if you would like a free case review.

Jonathan Ginsberg
Ginsberg Law Offices
Atlanta, GA



 https://youtu.be/h7vc1rlrCq4

Dancing May Improve Neuropathy Balance Problems

Today's post from upi.com (see link below) offers an alternative form of exercise for neuropathy patients who are having trouble exercising in the first place (although they know they should) and are also having balance problems because of the symptoms in their feet and legs. The answer may be dancing and why not? It's pleasurable and it's certainly exercise, so maybe time to get those dancing shoes out of the cupboard and take to the floor and who knows, it will significantly improve your daily life with neuropathy. The article is directed at neuropathy patients as a result of cancer treatment but the theory applies to all.

Argentine tango restores balance for cancer patients, study says  
By Stephen Feller | July 5, 2016
 
Participants in the study report it is easier and more enjoyable to maintain lessons in Argentine tango than in a physical therapy program.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 5 (UPI) -- People usually dance for fun, but researchers in a small study found dancing could be as effective as physical therapy at improving balance and preventing falls in cancer patients.

Cancer patients treated with chemotherapy often experience neuropathy, which causes a loss of sensation in the hands, fingers, feet and toes. Patients who learned to do the Argentinian tango found the dance lessons easier to adhere to than traditional physical therapy while accomplishing the same goals, according to early data from Ohio State University researchers involved with the study.

Up to 70 percent of patients receiving chemotherapy experience some peripheral neuropathy, with 1 in 3 having it continue more than six months after conclusion of their cancer treatment.

Because neuropathy can affect balance and gait, it puts patients at greater risk for falls and injuries while completing normal daily tasks.

"That's a big deal because many more people are surviving cancer," Lisa Worthen-Chaudhari, a physical rehabilitation specialist and researcher at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, said in a press release. "Dealing with the issues that impact a person's quality of life after cancer is extremely important."

For the study, the final results of which are expected to be presented at annual meeting of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, taught the tango to 30 cancer survivors, finding it helped many of them.

The researchers measured patients' standing postural sway at the beginning and end of a twice-per-week 10-week course on the tango. Five weeks into the program, three participating patients have seen their medial and lateral sway decrease by 56 percent -- suggesting the concept could prove effective.

"So many patients tell us that it is difficult to stay committed to physical therapy because it is hard and feels like work," said Mimi Lamantia, a pre-med and dance major at Ohio State University and fellow with Pelotonia, which has been raising money for cancer research through biking events since 2007. "We've show that Argentine Tango has measurable effects on balance -- but our patients report really enjoying dance as therapy. It is a fun, social way to do the necessary work and our initial data shows it has some positive impact for restoring balance."

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2016/07/05/Argentine-tango-restores-balance-for-cancer-patients-study-says/4991467728086/

Neurological Problems With HIV Vid

Today's post is an amateur video of a talk given about the Neurologic Complications of HIV, at Durban North, South Africa, Riverside Conference Centre on 16 November 2007. It's long (almost an hour) and sometimes difficult to understand because of the sound quality but because we deserve to hear everything about our condition and may be able to understand it a bit better by hearing different views on the subject, it's worth posting here. A cup of coffee and no distractions may be necessary for the serious viewer wanting to know more about the neurological complications associated with HIV.




Neurologic Complications of HIV - Prof. Nagagopal Venna from Harvard University CFAR on Vimeo.

Sleeping Problems With Neuropathy

Today's interesting post from napwa.org.au (see link below) is written from the perspective of a yoga instructor looking at sleeping problems caused by HIV and its side effects (amongst which, neuropathy). The article gives some helpful tips and explanations as to how you can improve your sleep patterns and is worth a read for all neuropathy sufferers, whether connected to HIV or not.

To sleep: perchance to ... sleep
Positive Living article • Muktakiran • 31 May 2013


We have all suffered bouts of insomnia and difficulty falling asleep. For most people, the number one cause is stress. For some, it may be a side effect of treatment such as efavirenz, which is known to cause wild dreams in some people. For others, it may be a symptom of HIV itself, such as pain, numbness or the burning sensation of peripheral neuropathy, that keeps them awake at night.

Lack of sleep affects our mood, increases feelings of anxiety and depression, and can affect our memory and ability to concentrate.

When fatigued, the brain thinks more slowly and we make more mistakes. When managing a longterm illness such as HIV, good quality sleep becomes even more important.

Diwakar Balachandran,MD, director of the Sleep Center at the University of Texas, says, ‘A lot of studies show our T-cells go down if we are sleep-deprived . . . And inflammatory cytokines go up.’1 It is a combination that increases the risk of illness.

Sleep is vital for our wellbeing.

It is essential for optimal learning and memory function and critical for a healthy immune system.

Digestion, cell repair and the release of growth hormones are all increased during sleep.

With a few lifestyle adjustments and some simple techniques, you can improve your sleeping patterns so that you go to sleep easily and avoid those debilitating and frustrating 3am awakenings.

MELATONIN AND SLEEP
An important factor in getting a good night’s sleep is a natural supply of melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone produced by the pineal gland; its role is to govern our internal body clock: the sleep/wake cycle. It also causes drowsiness and lowers body temperature at night. Melatonin production increases at night in the dark, and diminishes in daylight.

Light and electricity disrupt the natural functioning of melatonin production. The blue light emitted by fluorescent lighting, white LED lights, and the light in computer screens, TV screens and smart phones inhibits melatonin production when we are exposed to it at night. Changing the light globes in your home to ones that emit a yellow or warm white glow can make a difference.

And dimming the lighting in your home progressively over the evening leading up to bedtime can help regulate your internal body clock. Caffeine also reduces melatonin production by up to half, for at least 10 hours after its consumption. If you enjoy coffee or chocolate, it’s best to have your caffeine in the morning.

Sleep research scientist, neurophysiologist and yoga teacher Philip Stevens has clinically proven that candle gazing, a commonly practised meditation technique, significantly increases melatonin production (see below)2.

REDUCE EMR
Electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) is a form of energy with both electrical and magnetic fields that travels in waves. EMR is emitted from wireless and wired technologies, such as computers, mobile phones, wireless routers, TVs, microwave ovens, electric heating systems, and digital radio alarm clocks.

Philip Stevens recommends moving all sources of EMR at least two body lengths away from your bed. He suggests that at bedtime you turn off your wifi router, put your mobile phone into flight mode and, if you use an electric blanket, use it to warm the bed then turn it off at the wall before you go to sleep.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, STRESS AND THE BREATH
The autonomic nervous system affects the quality and quantity of sleep you get each night. It has two parts: the sympathetic, which controls the stress response, getting us ready for ‘fight-or-flight’ mode when a crisis arises; and the parasympathetic, which controls the relaxation response once the crisis is over. It is known as the ’rest and digest’ mode.

The pressures of day-to-day life, and how we respond to them, can over-stimulate the sympathetic nervous system.

Many of us are in fight-or-flight mode most of the time and so we tend to breathe in a shallow way, using only the chest. When we breathe like this, too much carbon dioxide empties from the blood, disturbing the body’s balance of gases. Shallow chest breathing maintains the physiological message to the body of fight or flight. When stress keeps us awake, it’s quite likely our sympathetic nervous system is still switched on. We can switch off the fight-or-flight mode by changing the way we breathe.

ABDOMINAL BREATHING
Abdominal breathing is a natural breathing technique that has positive physiological effects. When we breathe abdominally, the diaphragm muscle moves downward on inhalation, pushing the abdomen outward.

On exhalation, the diaphragm muscle recoils and the abdomen moves naturally inward.

Neuro-receptors on the wall of the main abdominal artery measure the pressure of the abdominal cavity and when they feel pressure like the one exerted in abdominal breathing, the neuro-receptors send messages to the brain to relax the body. This activates the rest-and-digest mode of the nervous system.

Opinions differ on what to do if you wake during the night.

Some specialists advocate getting up and doing some mindless task, such as ironing or washing up.

Philip Stevens advises not to get up, don’t turn the light on and don’t start reading. Instead, go back to slow-rate abdominal breathing.



Muktakiran is trained in the Satyananda yoga tradition. She is the manager of Manly yoga, where she also teaches yoga and meditation classes.
1.www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/immune-system-lack-of-sleep
2.www.yogalinks.net/research/research.html

http://napwa.org.au/pl/2013/06/to-sleep-perchance-to-sleep

How Much Will Genetic Testing Help Your Neuropathy Problems

Today's interesting post from individualizedmedicineblog.mayoclinic.org (see link below) looks at the potential of genetic testing for improving the lot of neuropathy patients. However, it's a bit of a teaser because it suggests that genetic testing itself can help solve the problem, when in fact, while genetic testing will identify the cause of neuropathy much easier, it has little impact on the treatment. The article does say that by identifying and targeting the cause of nerve damage, the treatment can be better directed and people can avoid unnecessary therapies. That may be so but as any long-term neuropathy patient will tell you, the cause of their nerve damage has long been forgotten as they try to find ways of reducing the impact of the symptoms. The cause itself then becomes almost irrelevant because after the damage has been done, irrespective of why, symptom reduction becomes paramount. Genetic testing may certainly help identify the cause and verify the diagnosis and may reduce the number of 'idiopathic' diagnoses but testing itself will not reduce your pain and discomfort. That all said, the future may well lie in genetic and DNA  manipulation, that may rejuvenate damaged nerves, or ensure that the damage doesn't happen in the first place. That remains a somewhat sci-fi concept at the moment! However, genetic testing is not genetic manipulation, it's just the first stage in a relatively new science. An interesting article that may offer up more questions than answers.

Using genetic testing to transform care for neurological disorders
By Sharon Rosen @shr02 Thu, Feb 23 2017

Our nervous system is made up of complex biological pathways that control everything we do, including breathing, thinking, speaking, moving and feeling. For patients suffering from a neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, nerve pain (neuropathy) and dementia, the symptoms of these conditions can impact many aspects of daily life. Some patients with unexplained neurological symptoms search for years for a diagnosis and treatment.

Scientists and physicians have suspected that many neurological conditions had underlying genetic causes. The question has been how to verify that. Advances in DNA testing technology provide new, more accurate ways to pinpoint genetic variations that lead to neurological disease. Armed with this knowledge, physicians can then offer patients targeted treatments for their condition. Christopher Klein, M.D., and Tatiana Faroud, Ph.D., discuss the best ways to use genetic testing to find a diagnosis and individualized treatment for neurology patients in their paper published in the February 2017 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

The paper, Neurology Individualized Medicine: When to Use Next-Generation Sequencing Panels, provides an overview of the different types of DNA testing now available through advanced technology known as next generation sequencing, the advantages and shortfalls of each method and how to select a genetic test for a patient based on their particular neurological symptoms.



Dr. Christopher Klein

“New genetic testing technologies have transformed care for patients with neurological disorders. Many different genetic causes can lead to similar symptoms in patients. By using genetic tests, we can identify the cause of disease and select more precise, individualized treatments based on a patient’s genetics,” says Dr. Klein.

Three types of DNA testing to consider

Whether you are a patient or a provider, it is important to understand the different types of genetic testing available. The paper explains concepts that can help you understand what tests are best for you or your patient in a clinical setting. The authors highlight three methods of next generation sequencing used to identify genetic links to disease:
Targeted panel testing examines a select group of genes connected to disease, often testing from 50 to 300 genes.
Whole exome sequencing examines only a small portion of the whole genome but includes all genes that have been shown to have a connection to disease.
Whole genome sequencing is the most comprehensive DNA analysis to date and examines a patient’s entire genetic makeup of 3 billion genes.

How do physicians determine which genomic testing method to use when trying to diagnose a neurological disorder? According to the authors, it depends on the number of genes that may be involved in causing a particular disease.

Targeted panel testing

The authors advocate using targeted-panel next generation sequencing for neurological disorders which may be caused by more than one type of genetic variation. This approach has been a successful diagnostic tool for inherited neurological conditions such as neuropathy, myopathy (muscle disease), motor neuron disease (a progressive disease that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord) and epilepsy syndromes.

Advantages to using targeted-panel testing include:
Lower costs for conducting DNA sequencing of a smaller set of genes and analyzing the data generated by the tests.
Provides in depth analysis of specified genes that are known to cause disease and accurate identification of genetic variants, which can be used to make decisions about patient care.
Produces a smaller number of variations with unknown importance, which can be difficult to interpret, compared to other genetic testing methods that examine a broader range of genes.

Whole genome or whole exome sequencing

On the other hand, there are benefits to using broader genomic testing methods to diagnose certain neurological disorders. The authors recommend using whole genome sequencing or whole exome sequencing to explore disorders with unknown genetic origins.

For example, these approaches may be able to provide a diagnosis for patients who have searched unsuccessfully for a diagnosis using traditional clinical testing or for patients with developmental delays or autism. In these cases, the broader approaches offer the opportunity to discover new genetic variants that could be responsible for these conditions.

When selecting these broader approaches, providers should recognize the disadvantages of these tests which include:
Higher costs for genetic testing and data analysis
Longer turnaround time to receive test results
More genetic variations with unknown significance are identified, making the results more challenging to interpret
Higher likelihood of identifying unexpected genetic predispositions to disease, in addition to the neurological disorder

Proper use of genetic tests can enhance patient care

According to the authors, the key to effective use of genetic testing is collaboration. Clinicians, laboratory geneticists and bioinformatics experts must work together to develop guidelines to select the right genetic tests, accurately interpret results and then use this information to guide patient care.

This collaboration can have a tremendous impact on patient care by:
Avoiding improper therapies and additional costly invasive therapies such as biopsy.
Identifying specific prognostic and disease management information.
Offering family genetic counseling for conditions that could impact other family members.
Providing opportunities for patients to participate in clinical trials and have access to emerging drug therapies.

Mayo Clinic Proceedings Symposium on Precision Medicine

This paper is the second in Mayo Clinic Proceedings Symposium on Precision Medicine, a series of articles that cover a wide range of topics in personalized medicine. Watch for upcoming articles in the symposium, which will focus on how personalized medicine and genomics are impacting patient care. Learn more about the series.

Christopher Klein, M.D., is professor of Neurology and consultant in the Department of Medical Genetics at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Rochester, Minnesota.

Tatiana Faroud, Ph.D., is division chair, Joe C. Christian Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Chancellor's Professor, director, Division of Hereditary Genomics at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

Learn more about precision medicine and join our community

Get the latest news from the Center for Individualized Medicine. Visit our blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter at @MayoClinicCIM.

Save the date for the next Individualizing Medicine Conference on Oct. 9-11, 2017.

http://individualizedmedicineblog.mayoclinic.org/discussion/using-genetic-testing-to-transform-care-for-neurological-disorders/

The Flu Jab And Neuropathy Potential Problems

Today's post from neuropathydr.com (see link below) is an interesting article about how sensible it is to get your yearly flu shot if you also suffer from neuropathy. It's a subject that arises every year and most people see the consequences of having the flu as being more serious than the potential problems arising from the flu jab itself. However, there are possible problems associated with the boost to the immune system that the shot gives, not least a possible triggering of a relapse of neuropathic problems. You should talk it over with your doctor or specialist and make a decision based on the two sides of the argument. Will the jab make your current illness worse, or will catching the flu be a more serious factor for you? Neither is certain, so it becomes a case of risk assessment. Your doctor should be able to advise.

Should People with Neuropathy Pain Get a Flu Shot? 
Posted by Editor on October 2, 2014
 
If You Have Neuropathy Pain from Guillain-Barre Syndrome or CIDP, There Are Special Considerations When Choosing Whether to Have a Flu Shot. Keep Reading for Details On How to Weigh the Risks and Benefits.

Flu season will be here before we know it. Most healthy adults will choose to get a flu shot to help stop the spread of this sometimes incapacitating illness, which can be responsible for thousands of deaths every year. And finding a place to get immunized is easy, with availability at nearly any drugstore, pharmacy, and walk-in clinic. Your insurance may even cover the cost.

But for some, deciding whether to get a flu shot isn’t an easy decision. People with neuropathy pain face a tough dilemma due to potential reactions to the vaccine. The list of folks who may be wary of the flu vaccine due to possible side effects includes people with peripheral neuropathy caused by cancer treatments, immune disorders such as AIDS and HIV, celiac disease, liver or kidney disease, shingles, and diabetes.

It’s important for people with neuropathy pain to realize that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) actually recommends getting a flu shot due to the serious complications that can arise from flu exposure with certain underlying illnesses.

However, if you have neuropathy pain caused by some illnesses, including Guillain-Barre Syndrome and CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy), you will need to discuss this issue in detail with their doctors. That’s because the immune system stimulation from a flu shot can sometimes trigger a relapse of these illnesses. Many doctors will recommend waiting a year after symptoms cease before receiving a flu shot.

Who is most at risk of catching and transmitting the flu virus? The CDC says you may want to consider getting a flu shot if any of these apply to you:
You’re at least 50 years old. (Children under 19 are also at higher risk.)
You are dealing with a chronic serious medical condition, such as diabetes or heart disease.
You are a resident of a long-term care facility or nursing home.
You are living with someone who is in a high-risk category, such as a child who is below the recommended age for vaccination.

Ultimately, whether to be vaccinated for the flu is your decision. People with neuropathy pain should speak with their doctors about this issue before taking action.

http://neuropathydr.com/neuropathy-pain-get-a-flu-shot/