A Natural Treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy
Lipoic acid can reduce the symptoms of neuropathy. Alpha lipoic acid can prevent and treat peripheral neuropathy caused by both diabetes and chemotherapy.
Lipoic acid supplements offer an alternative treatment for peripheral neuropathy. Lipoic acid helps diabetic neuropathy as well as chemotherapy-related neuropathy. Many drugs given for cancer, like paclitaxel, bevacizumab, gemcitabine, and oxaliplatin, cause similar nerve problems experienced by patients with diabetes. The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy can be treated with alpha lipoic acid. Neuropathy treatments such as gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica) can cause dizziness or fatigue, but Lipoic acid has very few side effects.
Diabetic Neuropathy
The Mayo Clinic says there are several types of diabetic neuropathy, including types that affect the autonomic nervous system. The most prevalent type of diabetic neuropathy is peripheral neuropathy. This usually manifests as numbness, pain, or "pins and needles" in the arms, legs, hands or feet. This type of neuropathy can sometimes lead to more severe symptoms, like chronic foot ulcers and infections that lead to amputation of the affected limb.
In short, diabetes causes neuropathy by exposing the body to high levels sugar in the blood. This glucose damages nerves, but the exact reason for this is unknown. Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, so the chronic inflammation present in the body might also be a contributing factor to diabetic nerve damage. There are several ways to fight inflammation, but the chronic nature of diabetes makes symptom management a problem when dealing with peripheral neuropathy.
Peripheral Neuropathy Caused By Chemotherapy
Many cancer patients also experience peripheral neuropathy. This is caused by several kinds of chemotherapy drugs, or adjunct drugs given during chemotherapy. Some types of cancer treatment drugs that potentially cause nerve damage are paclitaxel, bevacizumab, gemcitabine, oxaliplatin, vincristine, cisplatin, etoposide, tenoposide, thalidomide, and interferon. Chemocare.com says the damage caused by these drugs can be short-lived or chronic. It takes several months for nerves to heal, and sometimes they do not regain their former function.
People with diabetic and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy both exhibit the same symptoms, even though the cause of the problem is different. Aside from the aforementioned pain, peripheral neuropathy can lead to diminished thermal and touch sensations. Management of diabetes can help control the symptoms in diabetic neuropathy, and some people's neuropathy is partially cured after they discontinue chemotherapy treatment. However, the usual treatment for neuropathy is to prescribe drugs like Neurontin or Lyrica to provide relief.
Alpha Lipoic Acid Has Fewer Side Effects Than Neurontin
MayoClinic.com states that analgesics and some antidepressants offer relief, but Gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica) are the most commonly prescribed drugs for peripheral neuropathy. They are both anti-seizure medications, but have also been used to provide help for nerve pain. These drugs can be expensive, especially if a generic equivalent is not available. What's more, they both have several common side effects that might make them undesirable for patients who are already burdened with disease.
Read on
* GLA for Diabetic Pain Treatment
* Managing Peripheral Neuropathy
* Alpha-Lipoic Acid
In the side effect profile listed on www.rxlist.com, over 21% of patients experienced somnolence when they took gabapentin (Neurontin). Only 5% of patients who took a placebo in the study experienced the same symptom. In addition, 28% of patients reported dizziness. Pregabalin (Lyrica) often induces a slightly less degree of fatigue in patients, but causes just as much dizziness as gabapentin (Neurontin) and is about three times more expensive, per pharmacychecker.com.
Alpha Lipoic Acid Neuropathy
Alpha lipoic acid is cheaper than Neurontin and Lyrica and has far fewer adverse side effects. Multiple studies have shown that it is very effective in treating, and preventing, peripheral neuropathy in diabetic and cancer patients. A study performed in 2006 and printed in Diabetes Care showed that an oral dose of 600 mg daily of ALA (alpha lipoic acid) significantly reduced symptoms of neuropathy in patients.
The Annals of Pharmacotherapy reported on December 8, 2004 that alpha lipoic acid was an effective treatment for oxaliplatin-associated neuropathy. Another study from Journal of Clinical Oncology, released in 2002, showed that over half of patients who took oxaliplatin and were treated with lipoic acid reported lesser neuropathy symptoms. Oxaliplatin is a common chemotherapy agent used to treat various colon cancers.
In the May 2009 issue of Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, Heinz-Jürgen Ruessmann said switching from long-term treatment with α-lipoic acid to gabapentin for diabetic neuropathy, "...was associated with considerably higher rates of side effects, frequencies of outpatient visits, and daily costs of treatment. The pathogenic treatment option represents for the practicing diabetologist an effective, safe, and cost-effective treatment option for the majority of patients with diabetic polyneuropathy."
Copyright Brian Downing.
Read more at Suite101: The Benefits of Alpha Lipoic Acid: A Natural Treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy http://www.suite101.com/content/the-benefits-of-alpha-lipoic-acid-a168869#ixzz18j3l6BYg
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