Peripheral Neuropathy · Care at Mayo Clinic · Hypothyroidism Peripheral neuropathy can result from traumatic injuries, infections, metabolic problems, hereditary causes, and exposure to toxins. One of the most common causes is diabetes. Peripheral neuropathy has many different causes. Some people inherit the disorder from their parents.
Others develop it because of an injury or other disorder. There are many types and causes. Often, no cause can be found. Some nerve diseases are hereditary.
The symptoms are related to the type of nerves affected. Damage to the motor nerves is most often associated with muscle weakness. Other symptoms include painful cramps, fasciculations (uncontrolled muscle spasms visible under the skin), and muscle contraction. The Inherited Neuropathies Consortium (INC), a group of academic medical centers, patient support organizations, and clinical research resources dedicated to conducting clinical research on Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and improving care for people with the disease, seeks to better characterize the natural background study of several different forms of neuropathy and identify genes that modify the clinical characteristics of these disorders.
FNF raises awareness not only about neuropathy, but also about Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) and other hereditary neuropathies. NINDS-funded research ranges from clinical studies of the genetics and natural history of hereditary neuropathies to discoveries of new causes and treatments for neuropathy, to basic scientific research on the biological mechanisms responsible for chronic neuropathic pain.
