Expert: Gerald Anzalone, D.C. - 7/12/2008

Question
Ive' had
Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disorder for 25yrs and doing well playing golf working and a lot of walking. I was walking and a van came up behind me and knoked me on the ground sence then I've had alot of trouble keeping balanced and walking is there some kind of nerve in my back that would make me be in this condition? my hands have gootten alot weaker to I was just wondering what happened to me? If you can give me some answer i would realy apprechate it. Thank you

Answer
Robert,

As you know, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is an inherited neuropathy involving muscle wasting, loss of touch sensation, and dysfunction of myelin (the fatty sheath surrounding nerves that facilitates nerve transmission). Drop foot (the inability to raise the foot during normal walking), hammer toes, and weakness in the hands commonly occur in CMT disease.

It's impossible to say if the balance and walking problem you're experiencing has anything to do with being knocked down by a vehicle, or if it's related to your disease, without being properly evaluated. The hand weakness seems consistent with your disease process.

I recommend seeing your family physician at a minimum for further evaluation. You may also need to see a neurologist for the imbalance and hand weakness to determine if those symptoms are resulting from your CMT disease.

I hope that this answers your question.