Can CMT affect your eyes?

In CMT Type 6 symptoms can start either in early childhood, teenage years or adulthood. CMT Type 6 involves development of optic atrophy with loss of vision or blindness, muscle atrophy and weakness, loss of sensation, and balance and gait difficulties.

Does CMT affect the optic nerve?

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease consists of a group of disorders with progressive nerve degeneration causing difficulties in movement and sensation. Many types caused by gene mutations have been described, often with overlapping symptoms and signs, and in some there is associated damage to the optic nerve.

What part of the body does CMT affect?

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is an inherited nerve problem. It causes abnormalities in the nerves that supply your feet, legs, hands, and arms. It affects both your motor and sensory nerves. Motor nerves carry signals from your brain to your muscles, telling them to move.

What is the life expectancy of someone with Charcot Marie Tooth disease?

CMT isn't usually life-threatening and rarely affects muscles involved in vital functions like breathing. People with most forms of CMT have a normal life expectancy.

How fast does CMT progress?

In children with CMT, electrophysiological changes can be detected as early as 2 years of age, with abnormally small CMAPs and progressively worsening NCV until approximately 6 years of age when it stabilizes.

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Does CMT get worse as you get older?

CMT is a progressive condition, which means the symptoms gradually get worse over time. This means it may be difficult to spot symptoms in young children who have CMT. Signs that a young child may have CMT include: appearing unusually clumsy and accident-prone for their age.

Does CMT make you tired?

Fatigue is a common symptom in CMT. A study, published in the Journal of Neurology in 2010 and based on questionnaire given patients and an age- and sex-matched control group, reported that fatigue levels were significantly higher in people with CMT.

Is Charcot-Marie-Tooth a form of MS?

Introduction. Over the past 20 years, several reports have linked CMT with MS in individual patients. In the case of CMT1A, by far the most common form of CMT, four cases with concomitant MS have been reported. 9–11 There have also been single case reports of MS in other rare forms of CMT.

Is Charcot-Marie-Tooth a disability?

Medically Qualifying Under A Disability Listing:

CMT is a form of peripheral neuropathy, meaning it affects the nerves and muscles in the arms, legs, hands, and feet. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a standard disability listing for this type of neurological disorder.

Can you walk with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease?

Many people with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease require the help of certain orthopedic devices to maintain everyday mobility and to prevent injury. Leg and ankle braces or splints can provide stability while walking and climbing stairs.

How do you slow down CMT?

Physiotherapy is one of the most important therapies for improving the symptoms of CMT and reducing the risk of muscle contractures, where muscles shorten and lose their normal range of movement. Physiotherapy uses physical methods, such as massage and manipulation, to promote healing and wellbeing.

Does Charcot-Marie-Tooth get worse?

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) affects the peripheral nerves. These are the nerves outside the main central nervous system (CNS). They control the muscles and relay data from the arms and legs to the brain, allowing a person to sense touch. It is a progressive condition, which means that symptoms get worse over time.

Can CMT affect your neck?

Some CMT patients have reported tension headaches from off-balance gait, scoliosis, and neck & spine arthritis.

What vitamins are good for CMT?

Vitamin C has been proposed as a treatment for CMT, because vitamin C is necessary for myelination (development of the myelin, or insulation around the nerve fibres) in laboratory cultures of nerve cells and the peripheral nerves of mice.

Can CMT affect your heart?

As far as we know, CMT does not affect the heart. CMT also does not affect the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is a part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates the functions of our internal organs, such as the heart, stomach and intestines.

Does Charcot foot qualify for Social Security disability?

Because Charcot foot is a progressive condition, the Social Security Administration (SSA) does consider disability claims for it. The administration's Blue Book is a listing of disability categories, and Charcot foot falls under listing of major joint dysfunction.

What is the difference between Charcot Foot and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease?

Charcot-Marie-Tooth is an inherited peripheral neuropathy, causing muscle weakness and sensory loss in the arms, hands, feet and legs. Charcot foot is a condition causing weakening of the bones in the foot in people who have nerve damage. Oftentimes, people with diabetes get Charcot Foot.

Does CMT show up on MRI?

Conclusion Patients with CMTX can present with transient CNS symptoms and marked white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging scans.

What does CMT pain feel like?

Because CMT causes damage to sensory nerve fibers (axons), people with CMT can feel tingling and burning sensations in the hands and feet, usually causing only mild discomfort but sometimes causing pain. The sense of touch is diminished, as is the ability to sense changes in temperature.

Does CMT cause brain fog?

Is CMT linked to brain fog? Dr. Florian Thomas: Given that CMT in the overwhelming majority of patients is limited to peripheral nerves, there is little biological basis for “brain fog”.

Does CMT cause dizziness?

Some persons with CMT can experience respiratory difficulties due to weakness in the muscles of their diaphragm. Dizziness, shortness of breath, fatigue, morning headaches and pain the rib area can result.

Does CMT cause leg cramps?

Studies indicate that children with CMT1A have an increased frequency of calf cramps. Calf cramps worsen with age in both children and adults with CMT1A, and calf cramps are detrimental to overall QOL in CMT1A.

Can you live a normal life with CMT?

With early diagnosis and taking the necessary care, most people with CMT will live a normal life without much difficulty, although there is no denying the fact that some people have severe debilitating problems throughout their lives. Life expectancy is not usually shortened.

Does CMT cause headaches?

Specialized Care for CMT Breathing Problems

Buildups can cause headaches and affect brain functioning.

Does CMT affect knees?

The knee bob sign develops in patients with CMT who have significant distal weakness. This is almost always due to weakness of ankle plantar flexion with coexisting weakness in ankle dorsiflexion, which can be difficult to detect on conventional examination.