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What Is Degenerative Nerve Disease?

Degenerative nerve diseases are medical conditions that affect various bodily activities, such as walking, balancing, talking, breathing, heart function and other organ functions. The disease impacts these activities and functions negatively, by first destroying the cells that control these functions and eventually stopping the motor functions altogether. Currently there is no cure for these diseases.

  1. Degenerative Nerve Disease

    • There are many diseases that fall under the category of degenerative nerve disease. They include Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), Lewy body disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal muscular atrophy, Friedreich's ataxia, Huntington's disease, dementia, Friedreich ataxia, Hallervorden-Spatz and Corticobasal degeneration.

    Drug Treatments

    • There are drug treatments for degenerative nerve diseases. These drugs are not a cure, but rather they help maintain a comfortable quality of life. Some medications that can be prescribed are baclofen and tizanidine (muscle relaxants), benzodiazepines (spasticity), glycopyrrolate and atropine (reduce saliva), phenytoin or quinine (relieve cramps), anticonvulsants and nonsteroidal (anti-inflammatory), anticholinergic drugs, botulinum toxin, amitriptyline (drooling), tranquilizers and antidepressants (sleeping problems). Riluzole is used to treat ALS, but prolongs life by only two to three months.

    Therapy

    • Apart from medications, there are other ways in which degenerative nerve diseases are treated. Physical therapy and rehabilitation therapy can be used to help restore or improve posture, improve muscle strength and help with atrophy. Speech therapy can help with speaking and swallowing difficulties. Applying heat can help with muscle and joint pain. Also, devices such as braces and wheelchairs can be used for people who have difficulty walking.

    Diagnosing Tests

    • Electromyograms are used to diagnose nerve diseases that affect muscle function. EMG data also can show what defects are present in nerve function. During this test, the doctor places an electrode into a muscle then records actions when the muscle is resting, plus voluntary movements instructed by the testing doctor. Healthy muscles will be quiet and resting while muscles affected by disease will show spontaneous action. Atrophied muscles display little action while stiff muscles will show consistent action potentials.

    Abnormal Cells

    • Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) is a degenerative nerve disease of the foot. It has been found by neurogeneticists from the Duke Center for Human Genetics that there is an abnormality in the cells that power the nerves needed for foot control. These findings have implications for other nerve diseases in terms of understanding the problems that may cause the diseases.

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