Mangaluru doctor part of Guinness World Record for peripheral neuropathy awareness
The record, for the largest online video album of people holding ice, was achieved by Team Synergy of Sun Pharma Laboratories in Nov last year as part of a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about peripheral neuropathy. The acceptance and issuance of certificates happened recently.
Inspired by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the initiative involved doctors across India holding ice in their hands while delivering brief messages about peripheral neuropathy, a neurological condition characterised by severe pain, tingling, and burning sensations, usually in the hands and feet.
"Peripheral neuropathy often affects people with diabetes or chronic alcohol dependence. The pain can be extremely intense and disabling. Patients struggle with basic tasks; they cannot walk properly, touch hot or cold objects, or even write," Dr Rao explained.
In Mangaluru, Dr Rao noted, cases of peripheral neuropathy are on the rise, especially among alcohol-dependent patients and long-term diabetics. "Toxic neuropathy is a real concern.
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The area around the hands and feet is where the pain is often concentrated. In patients who have been diabetic for over 15 years, and whose sugar levels are uncontrolled, burning, tingling sensations are common," he said.
Dr. Rao stressed the need for greater awareness and said that while complications of alcohol use are often associated with liver damage, and diabetes with kidney, cardiac, or eye issues, nerve damage is an equally debilitating but lesser-known consequence.
"Chronic high blood sugar or prolonged alcohol exposure damages small nerves. Patients wake up with pain every day, and this can lead to mental health issues such as depression, anxeity and insomnia. Sometimes, pain-related sleep disturbances are what bring them to a psychiatrist," he said.
He stressed that peripheral neuropathy is a treatable condition. "With the right medications and awareness, we can significantly improve patients' quality of life," he added.
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