What do heart attack, stroke, neuroma and neuropathy have in common?
by Manny Aragon
We often hear the words “heart attack” and “stroke” in the same sentence but neuroma and neuropathy? What are they and why am I including them in the same sentence? The proximal causes of heart attack and ischemic stroke are blood vessel blockages to the heart and part(s) of the brain respectively while neuroma and neuropathy are representations of nerve pain and numbness- usually in the periphery and generally in the lower legs.
What these four have in common are poor circulation. Specifically poor peripheral circulation. Poor circulation in the periphery of the body (lower arms, legs, feet, and head- yes the head is peripheral to the trunk) means that more blood goes to the area then returns from the area. This creates a back water where the blood can coagulate (into clotting material) which may, at some point, be released to circulate until it gets to a blood vessel small enough to block (either partially or fully), cutting off blood supply to the area nearby (the most noticeable and critical being in the smaller blood vessels of the heart and brain).
Certainly this simplistic description of heart attack and stroke doesn’t account for all instances of the events but for a great number of incidences, this is the case. Now on to neuroma and neuropathy…
Neuroma most commonly appears as “Mortons Neuroma”- a inflamed and angry nerve bundle in between the 3rd and 4th metatarsals of the foot- can wreak havoc on the average joe but wreaks an especially evil sort of havoc on active folks- especially runners. The pain from neuroma can run the gamut from sharp to searing, from burning, to peripheral toe numbness. It is this numbness that makes it similar to neuropathy but more on that in a minute.
Mortons Neuroma is generally thought to be caused by a mixture of genetic foot shape and wearing tight shoes. This it thought to cause the front of the foot to be “squeezed together” ,chronically, thereby compressing the plantar nerve and building scar tissue around the nerve from repeated micro trauma to the area. All plausible enough, but why doesn’t everyone who chronically wears tight shoes get Neuroma?
The answer is poor circulation. The link is sitting for long periods of time, dietary habits leading to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome (a precursor to diabetes, and chronic systemic inflammation which we discussed here. But as any sufferer of Neuroma can tell you (I used to have the scourge but got rid of mine which Ill tell you about in a minute), taking off the tight shoes and less sitting usually doesn’t stop the pain once the neuroma has taken hold.
Benjamin Krieg, L.Ac. notes:“A lesser known cause of nerve scarring is excessive desk work. Sitting with poor posture for extended periods can decrease circulation to the foot, leading to microscopic necrosis (tissue death) in various places in the foot, and the gradual build up of scar tissue. Some desk sitters also develop plantar fasciitis for this reason.”
The medical “solutions” for neuroma generally don’t work well and can be summarized as: padded insoles, shoes with larger toe boxes, then cortisone injections to reduce the inflammation, alcohol injections to kill the nerve, and eventually surgery to remove the nerve. Note that NONE of these solutions solves the underlying problem of poor circulation (also note the “solutions” for heart attack and stroke here…)
Common symptoms of Neuropathy, most commonly referred to as “peripheral neuropathy” (see a pattern yet?…), according to the Cleveland Clinic include:
“Tingling
Numbness, especially in the hands and feet
Changes in sensation — Some people feel severe pain, especially at night, and some are unable to feel pain, pressure, temperature, or touch.
Loss of coordination
Loss of reflexes
Burning sensation
Feeling that you are wearing socks or gloves when you are not
Muscle weakness
Difficulty walking or moving your arms or legs
Muscle twitching
Cramps
Spasms
Loss of muscle control
Loss of muscle tone
Loss of dexterity
Falling
Inability to move a part of the body
Abnormal blood pressure or heart rate
Decreased sweating
Problems with urination
Sexual dysfunction
Diarrhea
Weight loss (unintentional)
Dizziness when standing up or fainting
Nausea or vomiting
Problems with digestion”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Neuropathy can be genetic (a small number of cases) or brought on by “systemic diseases such as diabetes”. Diabetes being linked with systemic inflammation and tissue death. Essentially neuropathy is nerve damage to the peripheral nervous system. So, this brings the question to my mind: “ If nerve damage is present how can the surrounding tissue possibly be healthy?” It can’t! If we look at neuropathy from 30,000 ft., it looks a lot like just another issue brought on by poor circulation.
So, what to do to prevent heart attack, stroke, neroma , and neuropathy from happening? If you don’t have them and you sit a lot, eat high glycemic foods including refined sugars on a regular basis, wear tight shoes, aren’t taking regular high doses of fish oil (or a supplement of equivalent action), consider yourself lucky. Change your habits now- before you get any of the above diseases.
We tend to think of heart attack and stroke as events…they are the late stages of disease.
If you already have had heart attack or stroke your doctor likely has put you on a blood thinner (seems like a good idea until you look at all of the collateral damage pharma solutions inflict) and a statin (pretty much a bad idea with no benefits here).
If you have neurma or neuropathy, your doc likely has not addressed the circulation problem and the problem will continue to progress. My advice for those with any of the four conditions listed above (heart attack, stroke, neuroma and neuropathy) is to change diet and lifestyle immediately (get a good start here) . Stop sitting, convert to a standing desk, get active, and get on a non processed low carb diet asap.
Additionally I have used successfully in my practice and personally is a specific herbal formulation designed to both lower blood viscosity (by using the body’s own regulatory systems, thereby eliminating the danger of hemorrhage that pharma blood thinners have) as well as reduce inflammation in the entire circulatory system (including the entire body) while promoting regeneration of the blood vessels (particularly important for the proper function of the periphery such as arms, legs, and brain for that matter). I have gotten rid of my neuroma of 5 years within two weeks (no surgery, medical interventions) by simply using this formula (and of course, I continue to use it as the damage will take some time to repair completely). My clinic has used this with clients with various iterations of the challenges discussed in this article with high levels of success (which are bolstered by robust clinical research studies) and so on.