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Maar een ding: ek vergeet die dinge wat agter is en strek my uit na wat voor is,
en jaag na die doel om die prys te verkry van die hoë roeping van God in Christus Jesus.
--Paulus in Filipense 3:14
Neurologiese siektes raak nie slegs die persoon wat daarmee moet saam leef nie. Die aard en tipe neurologiese toestand sal ook bepaal tot watter mate gesinslede, familie, vriende, opvoedkundiges, kollegas en wie ook al in die persoon se lewe is, daardeur geraak word.
Omdat neurologiese toestande so ‘n wye veld dek, word hierdie afdeling van ons webwerf hoofsaaklik gebruik om bekende, en ook minder bekende, siekte toestande te bespreek. Inligting wat betrekking het op meer as een siekte toestand of lewenswyse as gevolg van ‘n neurologiese toestand, sal jy in ons Artikels afdeling kry.
Laat weet ons asseblief as daar ‘n spesifieke neurologiese toestand is waaroor jy meer wil weet. Vertel ons ook van neurologiese toestande waarmee jy of jou familie of vriende saam leef sodat ons ons persoonlike uitdagings probleme en suksesse met mekaar kan deel. Ons
kan hier gekontak word
Hierdie is nie ‘n Mediese Webblad nie. Alle artikels en skakels na ander webblaaie is uitsluitlik vir inligting. Lesers moet asseblief hulle geneeshere kontak vir enige diagnoses, medikasie, verwysings na spesialiste of terapeute.
Hierdie skakels word hier geplaas bloot ter inligting en vir jou gerief. Ons het geen kontrole oor, of invloed op, die inhoud van hierdie bladsye nie. Ons kan geen verantwoordelikheid aanvaar vir enige inligting wat daar geplaas word nie. Ons glo vas daaraan dat kennis mag is en is seker dat hierdie kwaliteit webblaaie jou sal inspireer om soveel moontlik te wete te kom van enige neurologiese toestand en algemene inligting sodat jy beheer oor jou omstandighede kan neem en ‘n vol en produktiewe lewe sal kan hê.
EnglishA neurological disease does not only have an impact on the person who has to live with the disease, it also have an impact on others who live, or come in contact, with the person. The type and severity of the neurological disease, plays a major role in how it affects the person him/her self as well as their parents, spouses, children, family, friends, teachers and people living or working together with him or her.
This section of our web site will be dedicated to discussions of specific neurological diseases. We wil discuss well-known as well as less familiar diseases. Information and topics applicable to more than one disease or day-to-day living as result of a neurological disease, will be available from our Articles section.
Please let us know if there is a neurological disease of which you want more information. We will do our best to assist you in finding the information. We want to hear from you too. Tell us about your own experience of an disease you, a family member or friend are dealing with. We want to share information and experiences to assist one another on the road of overcoming life’s challenges, problems and successes. We
can be contacted Here
The author of this article, Linda Crabtree from Ontario/Canada, has CMT herself. As the founder and president of "CMT International" for nearly twenty years she has been in contact with more than ten thousand people with CMT around the world. This very detailed description of CMT reflects the author's and many other peoples' experience. It is written with first hand background knowledge, and yet is quite easy to understand.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is named after the three doctors who first described it in 1886, Professor Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893), his student, Pierre Marie (1853-1940), who both worked in Paris at the Hospital de Salpetriere named after the former gunpowder factory site where it still stands, and Dr. Howard Tooth (1856-1926) of London.
It is also called peroneal muscular atrophy because the peroneal muscle down the front of the shin that enables you to pull your foot up is usually the first muscle to be affected. A weakened peroneal muscle can cause sloppy walking, drop foot which causes tripping and you must lift your leg from the thigh so that your toes clear the ground and your foot slaps onto the ground, hopefully heel first.
CMT also has a third and more recent name, hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy. This name more accurately describes the syndrome because it is hereditary, can affect both or either the ability to move (motor) or the ability to feel (sensory). I have seen many people who cannot feel their feet or legs in a stocking pattern and many who cannot move their ankles, feet and toes and some who cannot feel or move anything from the knees down. Most people experience some loss of movement.
CMT is primarily a disease of the nerves whereby the myelin or insulating sheath of myelin on the nerves does not stay intact and the messages from the brain to the muscles through the nerves are not carried properly. It differs from muscular dystrophy in that people who have CMT are born with normal muscles. The muscles atrophy because the CMT affected nerves that serve them cannot properly send the message from the brain for them to move. Therefore, muscles can atrophy even though they are being used. People with muscular dystrophy have a problem with their muscles from the beginning. CMT is a muscular atrophy not a muscular dystrophy.
CMT is not well known but it is not rare. Many people do not know they have it even though it is carried in families, sometimes for generations. Often people write to me and tell me their family just thought they'd all inherited Grandma Jones' bad feet. One family member being properly diagnosed usually turns on the light bulbs for everyone else in that family.
CMT can be inherited three ways but most cases are inherited autosomal dominant pattern meaning it comes directly down a line from parent to child. In this form of inheritance there is a 50/50 chance at each conception that the child will have CMT. We have a publication that explains the ways CMT can be inherited and the genetic research that is going on as well as testing currently available.
Outward signs are what doctors look for to begin a diagnosis of CMT. The primary signs for CMT are :
Diagnosis can also be made by doing an electromyogram (EMG) that measures the irritability and function of muscles, and motor nerve-conduction velocity (MNCV) tests that establish the ability of nerves to send and receive impulses.
Symptoms of CMT vary greatly in each individual. That's why no doctor can predict what you'll be like in 10 or 20 years and one that does should be ignored. How your CMT manifests itself all depends on your genetic makeup, your lifestyle, activities, stresses, diet and everything else that makes up your life.
Since no two of us are the same, everyone's CMT is different. I've seen people with such a light case of CMT that they are still walking, climbing steps and working into their 70s. My mother is in her 80s and is still walking but using a cane. On the other hand, I am using an electric scooter at 58 and have a grip strength in my hands of two pounds. What a difference one generation can make.
Many people who have CMT have it so lightly that they are not aware of it until someone in the family comes up with a severe enough case that they go for a diagnosis; then, as I mentioned before, everyone starts searching. It isn't uncommon for us to hear from five or six branches of one family in a few months as they search out information for the CMT that has been in their family for generations but they just learned about because someone had a reunion and one of them had a child who showed CMT early and was diagnosed.
Other symptoms include :
We are learning more all the time about alternate therapies and drugs to control pain. Surgery can help foot, ankle, hand, finger, spine and hip problems. Ankle-foot orthotics (AFOs) can also help a person with foot drop walk without tripping and in-shoe orthotics can help alleviate pain experienced when walking and give a person an improved gait. There are methods and devices available to help you cope with everything from swallowing problems to not being able to wipe yourself.
Genetic research has already found the genes that cause some of the many types of CMT and is ongoing. Testing for some types is available.
© Linda Crabtree, Ontario/Canada (c) 2000/2008
This is not a Medical Site. All Articles and links to other WebPages, are purely for informational purposes. Readers must consult their doctors and specialists for medicine, medical advice and reference to physicians and therapists.
These links are provided as a courtesy and for your convenience only. As we have no control or influence over the contents contained on these sites, we can accept no responsibility for the information contained therein. Nevertheless, we believe that knowledge is power, and feel sure that these quality sites will be helpful in gaining the knowledge and information you need to live with, or assist someone with any neurological disease. We hope this will enable you to take control of your life and enjoy a full and productive life despite a neurological disease.