Some Causes of Peripheral Nerve and Related Disorders
Type |
Examples |
Motor neuron diseases* |
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|
Hereditary |
Spinal muscular atrophy types 0–4 |
|
Acquired diseases that begin suddenly |
Polio, infections due to coxsackievirus or other enteroviruses (rare), and West Nile virus infection |
|
Acquired diseases that are chronic |
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis* (Lou Gehrig disease), paraneoplastic syndromes, postpolio syndrome, and progressive bulbar palsy |
Nerve root disorders |
|
|
Hereditary |
Neurofibromas (soft, fleshy growths of nerve tissue) |
|
Acquired |
A herniated disk, infections, injuries, metastatic cancer, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis |
Plexus disorders |
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|
Acquired |
Acute brachial neuritis, autoimmune disorders, damage during delivery in newborns, diabetes mellitus, a hematoma (a pocket of blood), severe injuries (such as those due to high-speed motor vehicle accidents), metastatic cancer, neurofibromatosis (rare), and nerve tumors |
Peripheral nerve disorders |
|
|
Hereditary |
Hereditary neuropathies (such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease) |
|
Infectious |
Hepatitis C, herpes zoster, HIV infection, Lyme disease, SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), and syphilis In developing countries, diphtheria, leprosy, and parasite infections |
|
Inflammatory |
|
|
Ischemic (due to blockage of the blood supply) |
Vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) |
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Metabolic |
Amyloidosis, diabetes mellitus, vitamin B deficiencies, undernutrition due to chronic excess consumption of alcohol, and kidney failure |
|
Pressure-related (called nerve entrapment syndromes) |
Carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome (a type of ulnar nerve palsy), radial nerve palsy, peroneal nerve palsy, and tarsal tunnel syndrome |
|
Toxins |
Arsenic, lead, and mercury |
Neuromuscular junction disorders |
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|
Various |
Botulism in infants, Eaton-Lambert syndrome, myasthenia gravis, and dysfunction caused by exposure to certain insecticides (organophosphate insecticides) or chemical-warfare agents (such as sarin gas and Novichok, which was developed in Russia and has been used in assassination attempts) or by use of certain drugs (such as curare, which has been used to help relax muscles during surgery and to paralyze and kill when placed on the tip of poison darts) |
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* Motor neuron diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis affect nerves in the brain as well as those in the spinal cord. |
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