Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Charcot (shahr-KOH)-Marie-Tooth disease is a group of inherited conditions that cause nerve damage. Inherited conditions pass down through families. This damage mainly is in the nerves of the arms and legs, called the peripheral nerves. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease also is called hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease causes smaller, weaker muscles. It also may cause trouble walking, and loss of feeling in the legs and feet. Some people cannot tense their muscles. Foot issues such as hammertoes and high arches are common. Symptoms most often begin in the feet and legs. But in time, they may affect the hands and arms.

People with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease most often get symptoms in the teen years or early adulthood. But symptoms also may start in midlife or in the toddler years.

Symptoms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease may include:

• Weakness in the legs, ankles and feet.
• Muscle shrinking, called atrophy, in the legs and feet. This can cause the calves to look like an upside-down Champagne bottle.
• High foot arches.
• Curled toes, called hammertoes.
• Not being able to run.
• Trouble lifting the foot at the ankle, called footdrop.
• Clumsy walking.
• Tripping or falling often.
• Loss of feeling in the legs and feet.

As Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease gets worse, symptoms may spread from the feet and legs to the hands and arms. How bad the symptoms are varies greatly from person to person, even among family members.

Other causes of nerve damage, such as diabetes, may cause symptoms like those of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Having another condition with such symptoms can make the symptoms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease worse.

Certain medicines, such as the chemotherapy treatments vincristine and paclitaxel, can make symptoms worse. Be sure to tell your healthcare professional about all the medicines you take.

Gene changes that affect the nerves in the feet, legs, hands and arms cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. These gene changes most often pass down through families. But new gene changes can happen when there's no family history of changed genes.

Sometimes, these gene changes damage the nerves. Other changes damage the coating around the nerve, called the myelin sheath. Both changes weaken the messages that travel between the arms and legs and the brain.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a hereditary disease. That means it passes from parents to children through genes. The risk of getting the condition is higher for people who have parents or brothers or sisters with the condition.

Complications of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease vary from person to person in how bad they are. Foot issues and trouble walking are often the most serious concerns. And it's possible to harm areas of the body that have less feeling because of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Sometimes signals from the brain don't make it to the muscles in the feet. Then the muscles don't tighten when they should. This may cause tripping and falling. And the brain may not get pain messages from the feet. So a blister on a toe, for instance, may get infected without your knowing it because you can't feel the pain.

Other complications may include trouble breathing, swallowing or speaking if Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease affects the muscles involved with those activities.

Because Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a hereditary disease, there's no way to prevent it. Hereditary means it's passed through families. If you have the condition, genetic testing may help you with family planning.