Neuropathy has wide variety of causes, and nutritional causes are a major subset of it. Neuropathy secondary to deficiency of Vitamin B (especially B12 and Folic Acid) is well known and one of the first suspicion in otherwise normal patients presenting with symptoms of neuropathy like numbness, pin-and-needle sensation, burning sensations, pain or loss of sensations. When it affects the nerves supplying the muscles, it may result in weakness of muscle, muscle atrophy, lack of fine muscle control which may result in many symptoms depending on which muscles are affected.

But one cause of peripheral neuropathy that is not readily thought to be associated with neuropathy is food allergy. The association between food allergy and neuropathy is often overlooked because only recently conclusive evidence from research has become available establishing a certain link between neuropathy and allergic response to certain food items. The culprits so far found to be most commonly occurring are derivatives of glutamic acid and aspartic acid, gluten, pesticides on fruits and vegetables, food coloring dyes. One very common artificial sweetener, Aspartame, is used in fruit juices, diabetic food and numerous other products. It is one of the most commonly recognized allergen triggering symptoms of neuropathy like tingling, numbness, burning sensation etc. and also affecting auditory nerve causing tinnitus. Consumption of large quantities greatly increases the chances of having the neuropathy. Often, stopping the consumption of aspartame cures the symptoms almost entirely.

Many more agents commonly found in food may cause allergic response which may present as neuropathy. The ones that are currently believed to be responsible for most of the cases are Azino-moto (Mono Sodium Glutamate) which is commonly used in Chinese foods, gluten found in wheat containing edible items, some coloring dyes used in foods. Not only these, but normal fully natural food items like fruits, eggs, and milk may be the cause of food allergy induced neuropathy. Often it may happen, that the tracking of the allergy causing food item may not be very simple and straightforward.

So what if your neuropathy is suspected to be due to food allergy. Main diagnostic test used is a Radioallergosorbent Test (RAST Test) which detects antibodies against “common” food allergens. Since not all antigens could be detected in 100% of cases, sometimes the treatment may involve just hit and trial in which suspected food items are stopped for few week and observed whether it alleviates the neuropathy. Also it would be advisable to stop common known allergens like aspartame, MSG, food dyes, and gluten and observe if the symptoms are alleviated by this. Also thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before consuming, as pesticides present on them could be the cause.

If you are one of the many thousands of sufferers of Neuropathy, you know all to well that numbness and tingling is still a pain to deal with. Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition that is characterized by altered sensation or a change in motor control of a body part. The nerve becomes irritated or damaged and it no longer conducts the messages it should. If your neuropathy is left untreated, it will begin to affect your quality of life.

Mononeuropathy is one of the patterns of peripheral neuropathy. It affects a single nerve, i.e. only an isolated nerve is damaged. Mononeuropathy can have numerous causes and varied symptoms depending on which nerve is involved. Generally the symptoms depend on the nerve involved and the treatment depends on the underlying cause of the nerve damage.

Symptoms of a mononeuropathy will depend on the nerve involved and thus it will be dependent on the functions of the nerve. A motor nerve if involved is likely to present with symptoms like weakness or even paralysis of the muscles which were innervated by that nerve. Similarly if a sensory nerve is involved, the symptoms may vary from altered sensations like “pins-and-needle” sensations, pain (aching or burning or other type), tingling, crawling or loss of sensations like touch, pain, position sense (this causes ataxia) etc. Involvement of autonomic nerves may present with wide variety of symptoms like problems during urination (e.g. Incontinence), altered bowel movements (diarrhea or constipation), changes in blood pressure and heart rate (especially orthostatic hypotension, i.e. sudden fall in blood pressure on standing from a lying down position).

An example of a common type of mononeuropathy is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The nerve affected is median nerve and its involvement in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome most commonly results in numbness and tingling in thumb and next two or three fingers and palm of hands. It may affect both hands and may have other associated features like pain and difficulty with fine finger movements and sometimes in more severe cases wasting of muscles under thumb and weak grip. Another similar disease is Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome causing pain in ankle and the sole of foot and paresthesia on walking. Another very common form of mononeuropathy is Radial Nerve Compression (e.g. Saturday Night Palsy) which commonly presents with wrist drop, numbness of the back of hand and wrist. Mononeuropathies affecting the muscles of eye (called ophthalmoplegias) may result in varied symptoms like double vision, drooping of one eyelid, headache or eye pain etc.

Treatment of mononeuropathy is dictated by the underlying cause. Often diabetes is cause of mononeuropathies hence tight control of blood glucose within desired limits is very important to prevent development of neuropathies and if already developed then treatment is mainly focused on preventing complications like foot ulcers and relieving pain if any. Myxedema (due to hypothyroidism) causes mononeuropathies due to entrapment of nerves, so treatment in this case would be to give patient Levothyroxine (to replace thyroid hormone). In cases of nerve entrapment, corticosteroids may be injected locally to reduce edema and pressure on the nerve.

Surgical measures may also be adopted to relieve the pressure on the nerve. For example Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be relieved by surgical procedure called carpal tunnel release in which some ligaments are cut to reduce the pressure on median nerve. Medications like NSAIDs (e.g. Ibuprofen) can be used to relive the pain associated with neuropathies. Many times no treatment is necessary (as in mild compression injuries presenting with numbness or pins-and-needle sensations) and then recover on their own. If motor nerves are affected and there is weakness of muscles, then exercises of those muscles are advised.