What You Can Do When Your Feet Catch Fire, Part 1

His toes were on fire.

Trying to ignore the searing pain in his right foot propped against the accelerator, Pete gritted his teeth and focused on the heavy rush hour traffic.

The tingling in his toes had begun about a year ago, and he had had no idea what was causing it and it kept worsening. Finally, he mentioned it to his coworkers, some of whom thought it might be gangrene.

Panicked, he went to the doctor who diagnosed it as "Peripheral Neuropathy", and checked his blood sugar levels.

Dr. Hammond explained that Peripheral Neuropathy was usually caused by nerve deterioration in the extremities, and began with a tingling sensation in the toes or fingers. The "wiring" in his body had become damaged, and was now transmitting sensations that weren't there.

He prescribed Neurontin, a drug originally developed to control seizures, but had been discovered to work as a "pain manager" in the condition of Peripheral Neuropathy.

"It's not a cure," he said. "We have no idea how it works. But it'll reduce the pain and keep you functional"

Pete didn't like the words "it'll keep you functional." The phrase definitely had an ominous ring to it.

He took Neurontin faithfully according to prescription, and for awhile it worked, but it wasn't too long before he began to see what Dr. Hammond was alluding too. The painful sensations increased, and it seemed like it was getting more difficult for the drug to handle them.

Then, one day, he forgot to take his medicine, and he vowed he would never do it again. Without the pain manager, the pain level ramped up several orders of magnitude, and Pete discovered that the full extent of his condition had been masked by the drug.

Neuropathy had taken over half of his foot.

Sledgehammers slammed against his feet. Hot blowtorches seared his toes. Hot rocks were jammed inside the soles of his feet. Once ... worst of all ... a white hot band saw tried to cut his foot half off.

Now he knew he was now entirely dependent on the Neurontin. Without it, he couldn't endure the pain...

And he almost couldn't walk at all.

THERE'S DAMAGE OUT THERE SOMEWHERE

So what do we mean by the term "Peripheral Neuropathy"?

The nervous system of the human body is broadly divided into the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). The former consists of the brain and spinal chord, whereas the latter is divided into the Somatic and Autonomic Nervous Systems.

Peripheral Neuropathy affects the PNS, and can result in nerve damage to the Somatic or Autonomic Systems. Translated, Neuropathy can develop not only in the feet or hands, but in the nerves regulating the lungs, heart, digestive and sexual organs.

In other words, it can develop anywhere and have very serious and far reaching consequences to the body. It can take the form of:

-- Polyneuropathy (Peripheral nerves throughout the body)

-- Autonomic Neuropathy (the cardiovascular system, digestive tract, bladder, or genitals)

The painful sensations of Polyneuropathy, burning, itching, "electric shock", or hammering, may develop in the feet and legs either gradually or suddenly. You may or may not get a warning before they appear.

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT

Today, there are three classes of medication on the market that can treat the pain resulting from neuropathic nerve damage:

-- tricyclic antidepressants such as Amiriptyline (Elavil)

-- anticonvulsants such as Gabapentine(Neurontin) and Pregabilin (Lyrica)

-- Serotonin and Norepenephrin reuptake inhibitors such as Duloxeten (Cymbalta)

Blocking uptake of neurotransmitters or blocking pathways in the spinal chord prevent pain signals from reaching the brain. Sodium and Calcium channels may also be blocked to keep the brain from registering pain from "cross talking" neurons.

None of the medicines can be thought of as a "cure", and if the causes of Neuropathy are not addressed, it will continue to progress.

So, if Medical Science has thrown three balls at us and none of them are a "cure", is that it? Are we stuck with merely "managing the pain" and hoping we don't end up down the line with a foot amputation?

In Part II of this series, Pete will learn more

Copyright 2006 John Young

John Young is a writer with a scientific and programming background. He is recommending an alternative therapy for Peripheral Neuropathy at http://www.health-medicine-alternatives.com

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Symptoms
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The Truth about Cleansing the Colon

Recently I read an article written by a doctor blasting the idea that cleansing the colon or the body had no real value. His argument was that if there were any toxins in the body, then the body was equipped to remove them without any help by any type of cleanse.

Many doctors think in this fashion and have to awaken to the idea that in order for the body to do its job of removing toxins and fighting off disease it requires eating the right type of nutrition.

It has been clear for decades that most people are not eating the right nutrition and this is seen in the thousands of people dying every year from diseases cause of toxins or free radicals. What toxins do in the body is cause inflammation. Most disease or ill conditions such as cardiovascular, hemorrhoids, cancer, liver damage, kidney damage, diabetes, cataract, on, and on, are a result of toxins and free radicals.

When the body is overwhelmed with toxins, the immune system is not able to keep up with the damage that they do. The body needs a little help here. So are you going to step up to do a colon cleanse, a blood cleanses, a kidney cleanses or a liver cleanse? Or, are you going to believe someone that tells you your body can take care of itself and with cleansing. Yet this same person may freely want to pump you up with drugs.

Without a body cleanses or a colon cleanse, yearly, you will probably create diseases that will later call for you to take drugs. This is the path most people are taking right now.

Most of these cleanses you might do call for following a certain diet for four to seven days. These cleanse call for drinking and eating fruits and vegetables and their juices. They call for using specific herbal teas and for supplementing with specific nutrients. They call for all the different kinds of food and supplements that will neutralize and remove toxins through the normal channels elimination.

In the case of a colon cleanse, the body is flooded with water and juices to flush out toxins and nutrients to re-establish natural balance in the cell function and in the surrounding lymph liquid and blood.

Every day the body needs help to maintain normal function. And, it gets this help when you eat the right food giving it the nutrition it needs. In our time, the nutrition we need is for reducing inflammation caused by toxin and free radicals. With so many un-natural places to eat like McDonald, Wendy's, Carl's Jr. and so on, kids get hooked on a diet that leads to disease. Once this happens, parents find it difficult to wean them from this diet.

At one time, the food we ate was free of added chemical, the air was free of pollution, the water was crystal clear, clothes were washed with real soap, and our house was not filled with unknown cleaning solutions. Then our internal bodies were cleaner and didn't need the frequent cleansing that we now need.

It doesn't matter what some doctors say about body or colon cleansing. Just common sense tells you that keeping your body clean will keep some disease away. When your body has pain or disease or you feel tired most of the times, you need more than just the food you eat to recover your health. You need to do a colon and blood cleanses to get you back on a healthy track.

Rudy Silva completes his nutritional training at the Bauman College for Nutrition in California. For more information on colon cleansing and a 7 Day colon and blood cleansing program go to: http://www.coloncleanse.for--you.com To signup for my weekly Natural Remedies Newsletter go to: http://www.natural-remedies-thatwork.com and get your free constipation report.

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