Thursday 3 September 2015

10 simple CMT Facts (CMT Awareness Month 2015 - DAY 3)

Welcome back to CMT Awareness Month 
on the Crippled Crafter blog!
       
Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease can be a complex condition
but I'm going to try my best to summarise it in 10 bullet points.

So here goes!

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10 simple CMT Facts
  
  
CMT damages both the motor and sensory peripheral nerves; this means problems with messages between the brain and the muscles (motor nerves), and messages about pain, touch, heat and cold (sensory nerves).

CMT causes foot drop gait (the toe hits the ground before the heel, making trips and falls much more likely).

Foot bone abnormalities such as high arches and hammer (clawed) toes are very common.

CMT causes the muscles in the foot, lower leg, hand and forearm to become wasted and weak.
 
Balance is usually affected, along with the body's ability to know where your joints are in space (Proprioception).

Other symptoms include problems with hand function, scoliosis (curvature of the spine), occasional muscle cramping and breathing difficulties.

May cause long-term pain and tiredness (fatigue).

CMT is rarely fatal but is progressive, meaning it gets worse over time.

Is usually passed from parent to child: the chances of a child inheriting the condition depends on the genes involved.

In the UK, around 25,000 people are thought to have CMT, making it the most common inherited neurological condition.
   
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Okay, so maybe that was simple(ISH), you tell me!

CMT United Kingdom has produced the handy info-graphic below which highlights what CMT is like for many, if not most, of the people with the condition.


Image credit:  CMT United Kingdom

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Again, please share these posts far and wide!
There are a number of handy share buttons at the end of this post.
     
Please pop back tomorrow.  I have some exciting news about an annual fundraiser that a crazy, nerdy and very cool guy has been doing for a couple of years now!
  
To read my other Awareness Month posts,
simply click on the "Awareness Month" label at the very bottom of any of these posts!
   
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  www.CMT.org.uk
    
If you are interested in finding out more, the UK's official charity for the disease, CMT United Kingdom, have a wealth of information.

xxSAMxx
  

1 comment:

I really appreciate the time taken to read my posts and leave a message. It means a lot to me.

Thank you,

xxSAMxx