I personally believe the mitochondria are damaged mostly by antibiotics.
This is where much of the research is.

Many antibiotic drugs kill bacteria, and mitochondria are actually bacteria who live in our cells, as symbiotes... some ancient plan where they joined with other cells to provide energy for the organism.

But toxins may poison them too. Once a cell cannot make energy it stops functioning properly.

Free radical damage also is implicated. This is why antioxidants work for aging and PN I think. Oxidation by oxygen free radicals.

Thanks for the article. It really helps to have a mental picture or framework to see how PN problems really are. Otherwise it seems rather nebulous IMO.

Here is a link showing what Schwann cells are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwann_cell

I have a new theory on peripheral neuropathy.

I used to think the hyperexcitability of nerves was caused by magnesium deficiency; i.e., not enough Mg to pump the Ca out. So I kept taking Mg... but the nerves didn't quieten down, making me wonder if the Ca was still not getting expelled quickly, therefore continuing to fire ad infinitum.

I just read that you need ATP to get that Mg pump working. So even if you have plenty of Mg to drive out the Ca, it's not going to move properly without the 'batteries' (ATP) to power the pump properly?

I also read that up to 30% of the mitochondrial energy is used to run that pump. As long as the mito furnaces aren't doing their job, Mg supplements are in vain or to some extent ineffective. You have to start with fixing the furnace.

To me it seems the symptoms of too high Ca and PN can be very similar.

It seems the best rehab order is:

1) Fix mitochondrial function;

2) Increase Mg;

3) Monitor Ca (make sure it's not too high);

4) Take all the usual PN/nerve supplements.

(Low mito will limit supplement absorption?)

Hi Mrs. D, I tried to get into the site to read the article but it tells me I have to be a subscriber. Am I missing something?

Oh, I am a subscriber... but you know it is free. You could join,
just like Medscape. No money, nothing but some emails on the next issue.

I learned of this wonderful science site from olsen at PD forum.
So don't hesitate to join. It is safe to do so.

Our Copyright restrictions here do not allow us to copy full articles from most places.

So I cannot put it up here...some spots you do have to join.
Medscape is another with a very strict copyright.

Thanks I subscribed!

This is a very interesting topic. In addition to antibiotics, it may also explain how statins can produce PN. Is it possible/likely that mito damage from statins and other toxins could produce clinical sxs in a shorter time period than that seen with more chronic causes of PN, like CMT?

My neurologist believes I have CMT despite a negative genetic workup and negative family hx (and negative extensive workup for any other cause of PN) He says my muscle atrophy/ EMG findings are consistent with something that took years to develop. I disagree because I have lost mass and strength only since being on statins for 5 yrs. Could mito damage cause a similar clinical presentation over a shorter period of time and mimic CMT in its clinical presentation?

I believe that a most recent theory of statins damage, is
failure to remyelinate the damage caused by other things.
There have been studies on animals showing CNS remyelination failure too.

So are you saying that statins would not be a primary cause, but would impair the healing of damage from another process?

Only that particular study points to remyelination problems.

I don't think we see even acknowledgment of damage in US because of Big Pharma blocking that data.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19349355

This is only one theory... I think after the statins go generic we
will see much more.