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Linda here: I received a request from a nurse who has CMT who asked if we could explain proprioception. One of our longtime advisors explains: Proprioception The questioner asked about problems with proprioception in CMT. Proprioception is a term that refers to our ability to know where a body part is located in space and to recognize movements of body parts (such as fingers and toes, feet and hands, legs and arm.). Our joints and muscles have tiny receptors that respond to movement. These receptors send signals along peripheral nerves to the spinal cord. These electrical signals then travel up the spinal cord to the brain where connections with multiple higher level nerve cells allow us to become aware of movement. Diseases that affect any part of this pathway may result in abnormalities of proprioception. Many types of CMT damage the myelin or axons or both of the peripheral nerves carrying these impulses. Thus, a condition such as CMT that damages peripheral nerves often impairs proprioception. The resulting abnormalities of proprioception become evident as problems with walking, balancing, hand coordination or manipulating objects. This can be particularly disabling when combined with the muscle weakness and bony abnormalities of the feet that often occur in CMT. The problems with balance, walking and coordination are particularly difficult in darkness or dim light because good vision helps to correct and overcome some of the problems with proprioception. There are no cures for the proprioception difficulties. However, there are strategies that help to improve the problems. For example, always try to maintain adequate lighting and be especially careful in dim light or darkness. Have up-to-date appropriate correction of visual problems with glasses and lenses and have eye specialists diagnose and treat visual disorders such as cataracts. Use canes and walkers when necessary. (Don't be embarrassed. They may prevent serious falls). Be patient and perform functions slowly that require good coordination. Use simple assistive devices for fine motor tasks such as buttoning, zipping, and eating if recommended by a specialist. Watch out for steps, curbs and other uneven surfaces and, in your own home, keep floor covering flat, simple and not moveable. Physical and occupational therapists are especially trained to help with these practical problems. Catherine Urrutia doesn't know why her heart began beating too fast.
No medication worked to regulate it. Other readers have asked if irregular
heartbeats, either too fast or too slow, could be part of CMT.
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