Mumbai:P&G Health, to mark Neuropathy Awareness Week 2023, organised its ‘Demystifying Neuropathy Forum’. Hosted out of Mumbai and simulcast to eight nations, the discussion board introduced collectively well being consultants and 6,000 healthcare professionals from throughout Asia, India, the Middle East, and Africa.

During the occasion, consultants made deliberations on the newest medical steering and analysis findings on screening and administration of the rising public health concern of peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral Neuropathy (PN) is a power medical situation whereby the peripheral nervous system is broken. Symptoms of peripheral neuropathy embody numbness, tingling, prickling, and burning sensations within the palms and toes.

For the accreditation of Neuropathy Awareness Week, P&G Health has introduced its collaboration with the Association of Physicians of India (API) for 2023. It has partnered with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for the occasion, which goals at endorsing the necessity to unfold consciousness and empower household medical doctors for early prognosis of peripheral neuropathy.

While highlighting that P&G Health has at all times strived to extend consciousness round peripheral neuropathy and sensitise people on the significance of nerve well being, Milind Thatte, Managing Director, Procter and Gamble Health Limited, mentioned, “The ‘Demystify Neuropathy’ forum is a great platform for us to bring the entire ecosystem of nerve care experts together and discuss the condition so that the community is more informed and able to take diagnose patients better. As a leader in nerve care, P&G Health will continue to educate communities about the effects of peripheral neuropathy on the quality of life and promote better collective health.”

Sufferers of PN report impacts on their high quality of life, together with diminished bodily skills and poor sleep. Besides diabetes mellitus, weight problems, alcohol misuse, and B vitamin deficiencies are different high-risk components resulting in peripheral nerve harm.

Peripheral neuropathy and ache with neuropathic parts are extremely prevalent within the basic inhabitants. Doctors across the globe see thousands and thousands of sufferers struggling each day from these situations, that are comparatively straightforward to diagnose however difficult to deal with, notably in superior levels, mentioned Prof Rainer Freynhagen, Head of Department, Anaesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, and Pain Medicine, Benedictus Hospitals Tutzing and Feldafing, Germany, whereas talking on the discussion board.

He added: “Around 10 per cent of the general population worldwide is affected by neuropathic pain, and 50 per cent of these patients are not sufficiently managed. Although identifying a patient with PN is not rocket science, currently published studies across different countries confirm that up to 80 per cent of patients remain undiagnosed and untreated. Many people may report their painful sensations only after they become unbearable, but for me, much more important is the fact that only less than 1/3 of physicians are confident to recognise symptoms and signs of PN accordingly.”

Prof Freynhagen calls it appalling that for a lot of physicians, neuropathic ache typically has the bottom significance compared to different signs, although it’s one of the burdensome issues with an incredible affect on our sufferers’ high quality of life.

Dr Satish V Khadilkar, Neurologist, Professor and Head of Department – Neurology, Bombay Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences in Mumbai, India, said, “Diagnosing peripheral neuropathy is an unmet need. If PN is not diagnosed and treated in early stages, it usually progresses into neuropathic pain, which can lead to several comorbidities which significantly impact the patient’s quality of life, social life and working life. These include depression, sleep disturbances, and anxiety, which also require treatment, adding to the economic burden of the patient. Painful diabetic PN is significantly associated with disruptions in employment status and work productivity. Of working patients, 59 per cent reported being less productive at work.”

Emphasising that some sufferers may need difficulties in describing their signs correctly, proactively probing for traits of PN resembling numbness, pins and needles, tingling sensation, lancinating, stabbing, or electrical shock-like ache could be a good place to begin, Dr Ankia Coetzee, Endocrinologist, University of Stellenbosch Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Cape Town, South Africa, steered, “Easy-to-perform sensory tests such as vibration perception testing, pin prick test, monofilament test, etc. take no longer than a few minutes and guide the diagnosis, while laboratory tests can help refine the diagnoses.”

With the rising prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in India, it has develop into extraordinarily essential to teach physicians and sufferers about this situation, remarked Dr Shashank Joshi, MBBS, MD, DM, (Endocrinology), Physician and Endocrinologist, Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai whereas concluding, “The ‘Demystify Neuropathy’ forum enlightened us with enriching insights, data, and clinical practise guidelines shared by well-known health experts from across the globe and the region on neuropathy diagnoses, treatment, and management. We recognise the exemplary efforts of P&G Health to create heightened awareness around the subject, which can keep patients and consumers more informed and enable them to take steps to mitigate the effects of neuropathy.”