A Painful Connection
A Painful Connection: HCV, Cryo, and Neuropathy
By: Roger Smith
People with Hepatitis C who suffer numbness or tingling in their extremities
know from experience there is an association between HCV and neuropathy.
Increasingly, their claims are finding support: according to medical researchers
and clinical physicians, there is a "very strong association" between hepatitis
C virus and a blood condition called essential mixed cryoglobulinemia (EMC).
Among other symptoms, EMC can cause nervous system abnormalities. Researchers
have not yet explained the precise connection between HCV, EMC, and neuropathy,
nor have they found significantly effective treatments, but knowledge is sure to
increase as more people are diagnosed with HCV and its symptoms increasingly
studied.
Neuropathy refers to any disease of the nervous system resulting from localized
inflammation of the nerves. If symptoms appear in the body's extremities, the
condition is called "peripheral neuropathy," and most HCV-related neuropathies
are of this sort. Patients complain of numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness.
A physical examination may also reveal decreased deep tendon reflexes.
Occasionally, arm and back pain occurs. One patient has even blamed the nerve
inflammation for lost teeth.
Article continues at:
http://hepatitis-central.com/hcv/cryo/connection.html
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