Originally Posted by glenntaj

--would not involve re-myelination to any great extent; the small fibers are only thinly meylinated, or in many cases unmyelinated, so repair-regeneration there is primarily axonal in nature--the re-growth and reconnected of the nerve tracts themselves.

Of course, even with larger fiber neuropathy that involves larger, more heavily myelinated nerves, axonal regeneration can occur under the right conditions. Repair of myelin sheathing can occur considerably faster (weeks/months) than repair of axonal fibers can, though (months/years). If axons are destroyed beyond repair, though, they won't produce myelin, either.

From the standpoint of recovery, the "best" scenario is to have a neuropathy that only attacks myelin but leaves the axons intact. But a lot of demyelinated neuropathies are hard to arrest, and a lot of them lead to "secondary axon degeneration" when the axons are left uncovered and unprotected by their myelin casings for long periods.