A Review on Prevalence and Causes of Peripheral Neuropathy and Treatment of Different Etiologic Subgroups with Neurotropic B Vitamins

Abstract

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is the most common disorder of the peripheral nervous system in adults, and its prevalence increases with age. Because PN is often poorly documented and strongly underdiagnosed, estimating its prevalence in the general population is difficult. Only few epidemiological studies on the prevalence of PN in the general population are available, mostly from industrialized countries. Especially in developing countries, figures from different sources vary considerably. Available data often focus on certain etiological subgroups-particularly diabetics-or on neuropathic pain (NeP), which contributes to this variation. More epidemiological prevalence studies from the general population are required to gain a better picture on sizes of patient groups and cause patterns. To provide an overview of current prevalence data, we performed a selective literature search in PubMed, Cochrane and Google Scholar and used relevant examples along with comprehensive reviews covering the past 15+ years identified through the use of the authors' own files. These data indicate that PN is frequent and often undiagnosed for a long time.Although diabetes is the number one cause of PN worldwide, there are various causes beyond, making it hard for physicians to gain a clear patient picture and recognize symptoms. Most clinical studies also focus on diabetic PN treatment only; thus, data comparing the treatment of PN of several etiologies are rare, which contributes to the lack of awareness of PN causes. In order to demonstrate that different PN subgroups can benefit from treatment with B vitamins progressively over time-regardless of underlying PN causes, we also present some subgroup results of a recent non-interventional study (Neurobion non-interventional; NENOIN) herein. The NENOIN study showed that treating PN of different etiologies including idiopathic neuropathy is possible with a fixed dose of neurotropic B vitamins. Therefore, we conclude that this is an effective treatment option for different PN subgroups from which even patients with unknown PN causes can benefit.

Chronic pain: Psychologically based treatments.

“…There are many diseases and injuries that can cause peripheral neuropathy, including diabetes (the most common; Hakim et al, 2019;Ricci et al, 2019), shingles, renal failure, and Guillain-Barré syndrome (Roth et al, 2021). Mayans and Mayans (2015) identified the following additional causes: sciatic compression; fibular nerve compression; nerve dissection from surgery or accidental injury; HIV infection; cancer; monoclonal gammopathy (abnormal proteins are found in the blood); amyloidosis (an abnormal protein found in the organs); sarcoidosis (small patches of red and swollen tissue in the organs); Sjogren' s syndrome (immune system disorder); tick bite; thyroid disease; renal disease; chronic liver disease; deficiency of vitamins B1, B6, or B12; excess vitamin B6; heavy metal poisoning; organophosphate exposure; medications that treat infections, cancer, seizures, and high blood pressure; and alcohol use.…”

Vitaminas B neurotrópicas y neuropatía periférica: estado del arte y acuerdo de expertos

“…La mayor reducción media en el TSS se observó en el subgrupo de pacientes diabéticos (66 %), seguido del síndrome del túnel carpiano (64,7 %) y la neuropatía con más de una etiología (64,3 %). Los mismos autores confirmaron que dicho tratamiento también brinda beneficios clínicos en diferentes subgrupos etiológicos de neuropatías periféricas (127). Es importante resaltar que este fue un estudio prospectivo de cohorte sin grupo control, razón por la cual se considera un nivel de evidencia intermedio, cuyos resultados deberían ser confirmados mediante el desarrollo de ensayos clínicos controlados.…”

Factors correlating to decisions for prescribing pharmacological treatment and referrals in suspected peripheral neuropathy cases in chat consultation-based application

“…Peripheral neuropathy is one of the most common neurological disorders in adults in Indonesia [ 1 ]. Approximately 2.4% of the world's population has peripheral neuropathy and the prevalence increases to 8% with age.…”