Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a neurological and degenerative disease that affects the nerves and joints of the body, causing difficulty or inability to walk and weakness to hold objects with the hands.
People with this disease often have to use a wheelchair, but they can live for many years and their intellectual capacity is maintained. Treatment requires medication and physiotherapy for life.
Signs and symptoms that may indicate Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease include:
Most commonly, the child develops normally and parents do not suspect anything, until around age 3, the first signs with weakness in the legs, frequent falls, drops of objects, decreased muscle volume and other indicated signs begin to appear. Over.
Treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease should be guided by the neurologist, and it may be appropriate to take medications that help treat symptoms, as this disease is incurable. Other forms of treatment include neurophysical therapy, hydrotherapy, and occupational therapy, for example, that can relieve discomfort and improve a person’s daily life.
The person usually needs a wheelchair and may be told a small piece of equipment to help him brush his or her teeth, dress and eat alone. Occasionally, joint surgery may be needed to improve the use of these small devices.
There are several medications that are contraindicated for people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease because they worsen the symptoms of the disease and therefore the medication should only be done with medical advice and with the knowledge of the neurologist. .
In addition, foods should be recommended by a nutritionist as there are foods that aggravate symptoms, while others help in the treatment of the disease. Selenium, copper, vitamins C and E, lipoic acid and magnesium should be consumed daily when eating foods such as Brazil nuts, liver, cereals, nuts, orange, lemon, spinach, tomatoes, peas and dairy products, for example.
There are several different types of this disease and therefore there are certain differences and peculiarities between each patient, the main types, being the most common, are:
This disease progresses slowly and gradually, and is usually diagnosed in childhood or up to age 20 thanks to a genetic test and electroneuromyography test, requested by the neurologist.