The following
program presents principles
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designed to
promote good health and
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is not intended
to take the place of
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personalized professional care.
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The opinions and
ideas expressed are those
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of the speaker.
Viewers are encouraged
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to draw their own conclusions
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about the information presented.
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Hello and welcome to
Health For A Lifetime.
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Today we're gonna
be talking about your
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nerves and here to
talk to us about the
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nerves is Dr. Phil
Mills, he's a rehab specialist
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and he's been
working that field for what?
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About 20 years or
more. Actually 30.
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30 years, so you've
taught about the nerves a
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long time and you
know the body has a
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communication
system, how does the head
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communicate with
the rest of the body,
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that's the
question, how do we that?
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Well communication
as you know is important
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in every area of life.
It's important for wives to
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communicate with
husbands and for parents
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to communicate with
children and it's important
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for your brain to be
able to communicate with
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your body and
your body to be able to
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communicate with
the brain. There are two
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major ways of
communication, one is
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through the blood,
that's sort of like over the
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loud speaker, alright.
And it goes everywhere,
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where as the very
specific communication
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pattern are through the nerves,
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through the nerves.
Well I think it's true.
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I mean no one is
gonna disagree that our
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heads need to
communicate with our bodies at
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least I hope so
today. But what is this major
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emphasis you know
you're talking about
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rehabilitation and we're
talking about the nerves.
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What kind of diseases
are you dealing with there?
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Well there are many,
many different diseases that
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are encompassed in
nervous system disorders,
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neuropathies. But
really we need to look at how,
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cells. Right, how
the nerve is formed.
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The nerve has
actually two major parts.
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There is the nerve
itself, actually the acts on
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part is what we, the
inside, the inside and
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then you have around
it an insulating layer
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called the myelin
sheath. The myelin sheath is
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put in over a period
of time from the time that
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we're first conceived
back till we finally the last
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finishing touches
of myelin are put in
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somewhere for
at least for males,
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in the last of the
20s, certain mid to last of
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the 20s. And what
does the myelin do?
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Well it insulates
the nerve, okay, and it
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also speeds up the
conduction maybe in some
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cases by a factor
of as much as 40 times.
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Some people say
that there is two ways to
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send those impulses
like on the autobahn
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which is a myelin and
then the other is slower,
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is that right. Yes.
For example some of the
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automatic
systems, it might take two,
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may be even as much
as three seconds to go
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from the tip of the
toe in a tall person to
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the brain. But these are
sending information that's
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not so important,
it has to be instant or
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immediate. And then
there are other portions
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that have to be send
messages that have to
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be done very, very
rapidly and those go over
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these well myelinated
very fast conduction nerves.
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So, I mean what
happens if your myelin is not
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there, lets say you
don't have any myelin,
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and never got any?
Well they actually have a
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mouse that genetically
doesn't have myelin or
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very little myelin. So it
just has the inside axons,
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to that inside part
but not this part going
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around. Yes so there is
no inflation so it shorts
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out, shall we say.
And a mouse moves very
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erratically, just a
true jerk, kind of true jerk,
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kind of jerking around.
Yeah. So that it actually
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is very much like it's a
model of multiple sclerosis
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where you have that
problem of coordination,
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moment, even some
speech problems or
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scanning kind of
speech type of problems. So,
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that's what happens
in multiple sclerosis,
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the myelin sheath
is kind of be eroding.
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Well, just in
certain places in the brain
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actually. So these
are generalized problems
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that you've talked
about, what about if it's
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just damaged in one
place the myelin sheath?
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Well you can have
trauma that injures the myelin
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and may be even
the nerve in one place,
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the classic problem
is what's called Saturday
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night palsy, okay. And
in that case a person is
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drinking some substances
that they shouldn't be
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drinking and so they're
doing some activity they
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shouldn't be doing
maybe they're, instead of
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home they're out
spending the night in the
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park. And so they put
their arms back over the
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park bench. Then they
go to sleep or something.
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And then they go to
an intoxicated kind of
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sleep, so they don't
move like they should,
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their brain doesn't
send them the signals that
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all is not well and so
in that particular case
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their arm is
sitting on a pressure point,
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may be for a couple
hours. And on awakening
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in the morning when
they try to lift their wrist,
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they can't lift it
because there is a wrist drop.
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Now in some cases it
may come back slowly,
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may come back nearly completely,
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in some cases they
may be gone for good.
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Now similar problem is
called honeymoon palsy.
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Honeymoon palsy. And
in this case a person
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just married may
be they were drinking,
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they go to sleep at
night and the head of the
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new spouse is on the
arm of the other spouse,
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okay. And so that
arm rests there and if
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they've been
drinking they may not move it
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as they should,
again they don't have the
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communication and so
once again they'll get
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a wrist drop that
may improve with time.
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I think you're
worrying a lot of people,
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I mean people are
not going to get married
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now because of this probably.
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Well that isn't my
point, and my point isn't
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that it's not good
to hug your wife but,
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but that can happen,
it can happen. Have you
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seen that, you've
seen people come. Oh, yes
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I've seen, I've
seen these Saturday night
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palsies, I've not
seen a Honeymoon palsy
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but I have seen the
others. Now you can have
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other kinds of
palsies, where you have a
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bell palsy, where
you have part of the face
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that isn't moving.
And how does that happen
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because you've
pressed on something,
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may be your
glasses were on too tight.
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Well, in this case
for there is various
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causes but there
is some swelling and a
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pressure to a nerve
that goes to this area of
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the face. Okay. Now,
you know of course I'm
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sure blunt trauma
to some area would also
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mess up the myelin
there. Yes, and I should
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mention in the
elbow, this is an important
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concept the nerves
that come down the arm,
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the only nerve
that comes down the arm
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wraps around the
outside of the elbow.
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Okay. If you look at
your finger, okay, and
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you bend it, you'll
find that when it's straight
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the, there is
redundant skin. Alright, yes,
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so you got a little
extra there, extra skin,
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so everyone who
bends it. You need that
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extra skin. When you
bend it now you can see
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that's very tight.
Well most people don't think
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about it but on the
nerve that goes around the
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elbow it has to be,
there has to be redundant
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or extra nerve
tissue or it would stretch,
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or pop, and injure
when it's going around
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this corner. Well
at approximately a 110
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degrees that's
the studies we did on
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cadavers, that's the
general place that you
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have, it's maximum,
the maximum stretch.
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When you bend it
all the way acutely,
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if our elbows are acutely bent,
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then in most cases
we're beginning to stretch
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the ulnar nerves.
Some people sleep like this
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all night and so they
can get some stretching
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of that on their
nerve and can have some
00:09:00.71\00:09:02.88
damage of the ulnar
nerve, this nerve where
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it goes through the,
ulnar groove here it's
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bounded by bone and
it's right next to the skin,
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so you can tap it and
you have the crazy bone
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that you, when you
hit your funny bone.
00:09:16.42\00:09:19.20
Well so that's another
injury, what about Carpal
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tunnel syndrome? Yes.
Carpal Tunnel is a injury
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to the nerve right
here at the wrist. Okay.
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And this can come
again you have a nerve
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going through a
tight area bounded by bone
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on 3 side with a
real strong ligament right
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here. Okay. And so as
this nerve goes through,
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if you develop
arthritic changes by age or
00:09:46.70\00:09:50.87
if the ligament gets
thickened or if you're
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pounding such as a
person who is using a
00:09:55.31\00:09:57.38
jack hammer, this can
cause some problems with
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this area. Now we
have done some interesting
00:10:01.50\00:10:05.56
research on the
pressures of the wrist here,
00:10:05.64\00:10:11.18
in this area. I
don't know how somebody was
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willing to do it but
the researchers found
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people willing to have
a pressure sensor stuck
00:10:17.47\00:10:22.25
into their wrist. Well
that sounds like it hurts.
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It does. And so then
they would take normal
00:10:25.95\00:10:29.12
people and people
with Carpal Tunnel.
00:10:29.22\00:10:30.74
And what they found
is that normal people
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you bends your
wrist, you flex it forward,
00:10:33.57\00:10:36.16
you extend it
backward, the pressure in that
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joint increases
over the Carpal Tunnel,
00:10:39.14\00:10:41.45
it increases as soon
as you bring it back to
00:10:41.52\00:10:44.28
neutral. It's
okay again. It's okay.
00:10:45.62\00:10:47.63
But in a person who
is susceptible to Carpal
00:10:48.21\00:10:50.56
Tunnel, you bend it
forward, you bend it
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backward and they
bring it to neutral,
00:10:53.27\00:10:56.75
the pressure stays elevated.
00:10:57.15\00:10:58.70
So there's a
problem they've got some,
00:10:59.15\00:11:00.71
so the pressure may
stay elevated for 20
00:11:00.79\00:11:03.16
minutes or more and
so that puts pressure
00:11:03.21\00:11:05.58
on that nerve and it
can cause some injury
00:11:05.63\00:11:08.90
to the nerve and
then they develop the
00:11:08.95\00:11:10.31
Carpal tunnel
syndromes at night waking up
00:11:10.38\00:11:12.56
and their hands
were asleep and they're
00:11:12.61\00:11:13.84
shaking their hands.
Now if they don't get
00:11:13.87\00:11:16.70
that taken care
of either through,
00:11:16.74\00:11:17.97
you say there are
some kind of exercises
00:11:18.10\00:11:19.85
may be are supposed
to do or through surgery,
00:11:19.90\00:11:23.07
will that damage
the nerves permanently.
00:11:23.60\00:11:26.06
Oh yes and so the
exercises you want and
00:11:26.11\00:11:30.43
maybe some B
Vitamins, stretch the ligament
00:11:30.47\00:11:33.65
out. But ultimately
the definitive treatment
00:11:33.70\00:11:38.57
and a fairly simple
treatment is a surgical
00:11:39.15\00:11:43.01
procedure where
they release this tight
00:11:43.08\00:11:46.74
ligament so there is
room for the nerve and
00:11:46.77\00:11:49.63
the the case of true
Carpal Tunnel syndrome
00:11:49.65\00:11:52.43
basically the problem
is resolved unless they
00:11:53.28\00:11:56.21
develop some scar
tissue as a result of the
00:11:56.30\00:11:58.74
surgery. Now are
there any nerve kind of
00:11:58.89\00:12:02.50
emergencies, of
course a trauma, we get hit
00:12:02.61\00:12:04.72
by a truck and
your nerve gets severed,
00:12:04.79\00:12:06.30
that's an entry I
know that, but I mean is
00:12:06.31\00:12:07.92
there any other
kind of injury that you
00:12:07.97\00:12:10.37
would say make your
way to the emergency
00:12:10.38\00:12:13.17
room to the hospital.
Well, may be you're not
00:12:13.19\00:12:16.25
thinking of injury as
much as disease, okay,
00:12:16.40\00:12:19.44
such as, a disease of
course an injury would
00:12:19.60\00:12:21.56
go, right.
Guillain-Barre or Guillain-Barre
00:12:21.59\00:12:26.46
depending on how
you pronounce it,
00:12:26.47\00:12:28.53
that is an ascending
or maybe an ascending
00:12:30.81\00:12:33.56
neuropathy you
have increasing weakness
00:12:35.19\00:12:38.48
in the extremities,
in the hands, in the legs
00:12:38.49\00:12:41.75
as that goes toward
the lungs you can be
00:12:42.23\00:12:45.92
unable to breathe. Is
it a virus or something?
00:12:46.05\00:12:48.60
No, it's the
body's attacking, actually
00:12:48.75\00:12:52.26
the nerve and the
nerve covering that myelin
00:12:52.33\00:12:55.90
sheath somehow
the, because of maybe a
00:12:55.93\00:12:58.82
person who had a
virus before the body
00:12:58.85\00:13:01.34
sensitized itself to
that virus. Okay, then it
00:13:01.40\00:13:04.16
attack itself. But
then the virus looked very
00:13:04.28\00:13:06.46
much like the myelin
sheath and so they think
00:13:06.58\00:13:09.76
they're attacking
the virus, but they're
00:13:09.87\00:13:11.94
really attacking, so
they got to be in the
00:13:12.02\00:13:14.35
hospital just in
case you stop breathing,
00:13:14.45\00:13:15.98
all those
different kind of things.
00:13:16.02\00:13:17.18
Can that ever reverse? Oh yes.
00:13:17.35\00:13:19.10
Typically it does
unless it becomes chronic
00:13:19.63\00:13:21.79
relapsing, but
typically they can,
00:13:21.91\00:13:24.15
they can come back to
essentially full covering.
00:13:24.29\00:13:27.55
And that's by
boosting their immune system
00:13:28.02\00:13:31.06
and different things I
remember as the nerve's
00:13:31.14\00:13:32.85
taking care of few
patients like that in a
00:13:32.88\00:13:34.95
hospital and I never
really kind of understood
00:13:35.07\00:13:36.97
that but this
certainly makes a lot of sense.
00:13:37.03\00:13:38.75
We're talking
with Dr. Phil Mills,
00:13:39.68\00:13:41.01
we're talking about
problems with the nerves
00:13:41.12\00:13:43.08
and well also the
beauty and wonder of the
00:13:43.10\00:13:44.86
nerves. When we
come back we're going
00:13:44.94\00:13:46.70
to talk about some
more problems and then how,
00:13:46.76\00:13:48.88
what you can do to
have healthy nerves
00:13:48.96\00:13:50.54
and hopefully avoid or
maybe even reverse some
00:13:50.62\00:13:53.40
of the problems,
we'll see when we come back.
00:13:53.44\00:13:55.41
Are you confused
about the endless stream
00:13:58.02\00:14:00.41
of new and often
contradictory health
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Welcome back we're
talking with Dr. Phil
00:14:57.72\00:14:59.27
Mills, we're
talking about the nerves,
00:14:59.44\00:15:00.87
in our first half we
learned a lot about the
00:15:00.89\00:15:03.48
nerves, how they
worked. We talked about
00:15:03.59\00:15:05.21
the outside sheath of the nerve,
00:15:05.22\00:15:07.07
we talked about the
inside section of the
00:15:07.43\00:15:09.18
nerve and Dr.
Mills explained how those
00:15:09.25\00:15:11.87
worked and
somehow, sometimes why they
00:15:12.02\00:15:14.05
don't work and
different things that we do.
00:15:14.13\00:15:16.03
And we're looking now
a little more closely not
00:15:16.22\00:15:18.91
at the outside section anymore.
00:15:19.01\00:15:20.87
We talked about
some things that can
00:15:20.98\00:15:22.35
happen with that
outside section, you talked
00:15:22.36\00:15:24.72
about the honeymoon
palsy, about the bells
00:15:24.73\00:15:26.84
palsy, about this
progressive movement of
00:15:26.86\00:15:31.19
what would you
call that from the,
00:15:31.40\00:15:32.85
going from the
feet up Guillain-Barre,
00:15:32.98\00:15:34.74
Guillain-Barre. And
now we're gonna be talking
00:15:34.92\00:15:36.86
about the actual
inside of the nerve itself.
00:15:36.97\00:15:40.42
What kind of things
can afflict the inside,
00:15:40.72\00:15:43.06
you call it the
axon, is that what you call
00:15:43.12\00:15:44.76
that? Yes, well
actually neuropathies are
00:15:44.87\00:15:49.75
very, very common,
okay. About one out of
00:15:49.82\00:15:53.10
eight people will
have a neuropathy of some
00:15:53.24\00:15:56.75
sort, may be mild,
may be more severe by
00:15:56.87\00:16:00.09
the time they're 70.
So this is something,
00:16:00.13\00:16:02.42
everyone that's
watching will if they haven't
00:16:02.50\00:16:04.61
experienced will
probably experience it.
00:16:04.73\00:16:07.21
Well one out of
eight will. Right.
00:16:07.27\00:16:09.12
So you have a very
significant part of the
00:16:09.99\00:16:13.39
population that
have this neuropathy,
00:16:13.46\00:16:16.11
one of most feared
neuropathies perhaps is
00:16:16.28\00:16:18.82
leprosy. In this
country we they think there are
00:16:18.84\00:16:22.96
about 5500 perhaps
it's seen endemically in
00:16:22.97\00:16:29.12
Louisiana and also
Texas. And what does that
00:16:30.49\00:16:33.13
do, does it slow down
the conduction is that
00:16:33.19\00:16:35.38
what it does. Way,
way down. Your slowest
00:16:35.40\00:16:38.70
conductions that are
seen at all, are seen in
00:16:38.79\00:16:44.96
leprosy. So you can
get a three meter per
00:16:46.02\00:16:49.47
second conduction
study on nerve conduction
00:16:49.53\00:16:53.61
studies. That's
incredibly slow. So, it's a
00:16:53.67\00:17:00.05
problem that is not
a real common problem
00:17:00.28\00:17:03.92
in this country but
some of the experts in the
00:17:03.93\00:17:07.16
area say it's more
common than we think.
00:17:07.17\00:17:09.75
As I said statistically
we think there are maybe
00:17:09.87\00:17:14.31
5500 but the experts
on it tell me that there
00:17:14.49\00:17:19.06
may be 3 or 4
times that many, it's way
00:17:19.16\00:17:22.20
under diagnosed. I
have a friend of mine
00:17:22.21\00:17:24.21
who has done
incredible research in the world
00:17:24.53\00:17:27.78
literature on
leprosy. He worked for years in
00:17:27.79\00:17:31.15
a leper colony in Africa.
And seeking for solutions
00:17:31.16\00:17:37.53
he did this search and
put it all, made all of
00:17:37.97\00:17:41.39
it available in a CD,
okay. Tremendous research.
00:17:41.40\00:17:46.59
He came back to this
country and was working
00:17:46.99\00:17:50.06
for a temporarily
doing independent medical
00:17:50.12\00:17:53.48
evaluations up in
the Seattle, where you
00:17:53.58\00:17:55.44
think there
probably be no leprosy.
00:17:55.52\00:17:57.24
He found two lepers undiagnosed,
00:17:58.39\00:18:02.99
just in doing
independent medical evaluations
00:18:03.47\00:18:06.61
in Seattle. So he
thinks that it's based on his
00:18:06.91\00:18:11.08
findings and his
experience that it would
00:18:11.74\00:18:14.57
be, more prevalent. The
problem is we don't think
00:18:14.67\00:18:18.04
about it as a
physician. Now how do people get
00:18:18.09\00:18:20.25
leprosy, is that
just, how does that happen?
00:18:20.38\00:18:23.20
Well it is very
mildly contagious,
00:18:23.96\00:18:27.33
but if a person has
lived in Louisiana or Texas,
00:18:27.91\00:18:34.46
they've lived in Texas
or if they've been in the
00:18:34.58\00:18:37.93
army, been overseas
in those locations maybe
00:18:38.01\00:18:41.24
missionaries where
leprosy is, that's how you
00:18:41.36\00:18:45.60
get it. Now you said
that you were talking to me
00:18:45.61\00:18:47.86
about how they
diagnosed that, they can kind of
00:18:47.89\00:18:49.85
fill the nerve on one
side but not on the other
00:18:49.98\00:18:51.86
and that means that
probably they have it.
00:18:51.99\00:18:53.99
Well that's one way,
there's a lot of ways that
00:18:54.24\00:18:56.42
they can diagnose it,
but it is, it is the only
00:18:56.57\00:19:01.32
disease where you can
feel your ulnar nerve on
00:19:01.43\00:19:05.50
one side and not on
the other, that's leprosy.
00:19:05.52\00:19:08.70
So that's not a real
common thing but what are
00:19:08.87\00:19:10.71
some other most
common neuropathies we have,
00:19:10.79\00:19:13.40
were problems with the
nerves in this country?
00:19:13.54\00:19:15.68
Well in this country
the most common is diabetes.
00:19:15.80\00:19:19.00
So diabetic
neuropathy we call it,
00:19:19.26\00:19:21.93
how does that
develop, how does a diabetic
00:19:21.95\00:19:24.17
develop
problems with the nerves?
00:19:24.25\00:19:25.57
Well we call it a diabetic
peripheral polyneuropathy,
00:19:25.61\00:19:29.92
peripheral that
is, is because it's the
00:19:30.00\00:19:31.55
peripheral nerves. It
also is seen in the face
00:19:31.58\00:19:34.78
and poly meaning
many, okay, many nerves and
00:19:36.72\00:19:42.77
then neuropathy
being pathy meaning disease
00:19:42.85\00:19:45.74
and neuro being
nerve. So many peripheral,
00:19:45.84\00:19:50.35
are affected, so
how. So, how does that
00:19:50.36\00:19:51.33
happen, is it because
the blood sugar goes up,
00:19:51.34\00:19:53.20
what happens with
that? Well, what we think and
00:19:53.24\00:19:55.35
there are various
theories on it but the
00:19:55.40\00:19:58.75
best one appears to
be a decreased sense,
00:19:58.90\00:20:02.66
decreased
circulation to the nerve itself.
00:20:03.43\00:20:06.70
I see. So decreased
circulation coming to the
00:20:07.22\00:20:10.87
nerves and that causes
them to just break down
00:20:10.97\00:20:13.22
and then not working.
Well they get sickly and
00:20:13.30\00:20:15.96
so then a person is
more, for example a person
00:20:16.04\00:20:19.22
who has diabetes
peripheral polyneuropathy
00:20:19.26\00:20:22.92
is at more risk to
develop such things as
00:20:23.37\00:20:26.13
Carpal tunnel syndrome,
such things as an ulnar
00:20:26.18\00:20:28.86
neuropathy, all that
can predisposure to have
00:20:28.95\00:20:33.62
nerve problems in
other ways. It will often
00:20:34.32\00:20:37.45
begin with a burning
sensation in your toes
00:20:37.48\00:20:42.51
or in your fingers.
Does that get worse or less
00:20:42.54\00:20:45.05
as these things go
on. The burning sensation
00:20:45.11\00:20:47.49
actually decreases the
pain actually decreases
00:20:47.50\00:20:51.71
as the disease progresses.
You would think that,
00:20:51.81\00:20:55.31
that would be a good
thing but in fact what
00:20:56.30\00:20:58.42
happens is the
nerve has most sensation,
00:20:58.61\00:21:03.05
most feeling when it's
the most healthy, I see.
00:21:03.24\00:21:05.35
So when it's just
beginning to get unhealthy
00:21:05.36\00:21:08.14
it has these
sensations. As it really becomes
00:21:09.07\00:21:12.71
very unhealthy you
don't have any particular
00:21:12.79\00:21:16.67
burning but you don't
have any particular sensation
00:21:17.00\00:21:20.30
either. So for the
leper and for the diabetic
00:21:20.31\00:21:22.68
with neuropathies, it's actually
00:21:22.77\00:21:24.00
a bad thing to not
have pain, pain's really a
00:21:24.05\00:21:26.00
blessing. Yes it
is, pain is an amazing,
00:21:26.06\00:21:29.52
amazingly enough is
great blessing I've had
00:21:31.36\00:21:35.94
people that, I've
listened to them, they have
00:21:36.03\00:21:39.64
their thumb hit
with the hammer and then
00:21:39.66\00:21:44.12
they take God's name
in vain. If they only
00:21:44.16\00:21:47.44
realized that that
pain is protective and they
00:21:47.45\00:21:52.19
would say, yeah,
thank you Lord for having me
00:21:52.27\00:21:56.28
feel the pain of a
hammer, yeah, of a hammer
00:21:56.36\00:22:00.70
hitting it, because
otherwise. They ever been
00:22:00.97\00:22:03.51
to leper colony and
seeing the opposite, yes.
00:22:03.63\00:22:06.37
I mean, I'm reading a
book about these lepers
00:22:06.90\00:22:09.07
and they couldn't
feel anything and one's
00:22:09.08\00:22:10.69
running around,
their toes are falling
00:22:10.74\00:22:13.69
out they don't
realize all these different
00:22:13.82\00:22:15.68
things and then
they got them these cats,
00:22:15.80\00:22:19.17
they put them in
the rooms with them,
00:22:19.18\00:22:20.42
they were killing
all the rats because
00:22:20.51\00:22:21.79
the rats were kind of
nibbling on them at night.
00:22:21.83\00:22:23.76
Man, I was very
thankful the next morning that
00:22:24.28\00:22:26.59
I had some pain. Well
you know interestingly
00:22:26.63\00:22:29.78
enough Paul talks
about spiritual neuropathies.
00:22:29.92\00:22:34.94
What do you mean? He
calls it, people who are
00:22:35.43\00:22:38.78
past feeling, oh okay,
you see spiritually if we
00:22:38.97\00:22:42.26
do something wrong
we should have pain
00:22:42.28\00:22:44.54
for it. Yeah, you
should feel bad about it,
00:22:44.65\00:22:46.37
if you talk to a child
that's not accustomed to
00:22:46.55\00:22:49.83
lying, he'll look
away when he is lying,
00:22:49.91\00:22:53.07
he'll look down, he'll
get a little uncountable,
00:22:53.09\00:22:55.24
but the real professional
will look right at you.
00:22:55.59\00:22:59.12
There's no way you can
tell that they're lying
00:22:59.24\00:23:01.37
because they're
past feeling that they're
00:23:01.67\00:23:03.39
hurt, so we should
welcome a sensitive conscience.
00:23:03.50\00:23:07.43
So that's why they
sometimes can't even pick
00:23:07.92\00:23:09.53
it up with a
polygraph, they're so. Yeah.
00:23:09.64\00:23:11.28
Past feeling they
get expert. They're past
00:23:11.30\00:23:13.51
feeling interesting.
So how do you treat a
00:23:13.61\00:23:15.58
neuropathy once you
have a diabetic neuropathy,
00:23:15.66\00:23:18.10
do you ever get cured
from it, or? Typically,
00:23:18.22\00:23:21.43
now if you have a
specific focal neuropathy
00:23:21.55\00:23:24.23
such as Carpal
Tunnel syndrome or ulnar
00:23:24.36\00:23:26.53
neuropathy, surgical
treatment is, can be in
00:23:26.58\00:23:31.23
many cases
curative. But in your general
00:23:31.25\00:23:34.09
population you may
not have a specific
00:23:36.58\00:23:41.26
treatment to cure the
problem and what you do
00:23:41.32\00:23:44.98
is try to control it,
decrease the side effects,
00:23:45.01\00:23:48.39
decrease the
speed of progression,
00:23:49.04\00:23:50.76
those sorts of
approaches. Okay. So then
00:23:50.99\00:23:53.22
general things you
can do for nerve health,
00:23:53.40\00:23:54.79
what kind of
things should they eat,
00:23:54.88\00:23:56.66
what things should they not eat,
00:23:56.68\00:23:57.96
what kind of things
should you be doing.
00:23:58.04\00:23:59.78
Particularly
your B Vitamins. Okay.
00:23:59.92\00:24:02.70
So you're thinking
of sunflower seeds,
00:24:02.82\00:24:04.95
you're thinking of
your grains, you're
00:24:04.98\00:24:07.72
thinking of
fruits and vegetables,
00:24:07.82\00:24:10.67
the rich variety of
foods that God has placed
00:24:10.86\00:24:14.44
in an abundance,
the natural foods,
00:24:14.47\00:24:19.76
these are very
good for your nerves.
00:24:20.12\00:24:22.25
And a diabetic
needs to keep their sugar
00:24:22.64\00:24:25.24
under control, yes,
and that helps as well.
00:24:25.34\00:24:27.93
And I think you also
have done here Brewer's
00:24:28.23\00:24:30.28
yeast, so that's also
good. Is that good because
00:24:30.32\00:24:33.19
it has B12, okay I
see what you're saying.
00:24:33.21\00:24:35.79
And there can be
problems with B12 and
00:24:36.11\00:24:38.64
Brewer's yeast is for
those people who think
00:24:38.73\00:24:41.07
that, it's not enough
for them, if it's good
00:24:41.08\00:24:44.03
for them, if it's good
for them it has to taste bad.
00:24:44.05\00:24:45.45
And that's the treatment
for people who like bad
00:24:45.73\00:24:49.11
tasting things to,
exactly. What I was gonna
00:24:49.16\00:24:53.18
say, I wanna make
sure that the people
00:24:53.22\00:24:54.75
listening don't get
this wrong, I'm not saying
00:24:54.83\00:24:57.50
B12 can be bad for
you, not enough B12 can
00:24:57.53\00:25:00.52
be bad for you,
oh absolutely. Okay,
00:25:00.58\00:25:03.04
I remember growing up
we would take Brewer's
00:25:03.36\00:25:06.74
yeast because we
found out this was important
00:25:06.79\00:25:08.95
and we'd put it in
tomato juice and you know
00:25:09.19\00:25:12.00
I got so, I even
enjoyed it. Some people put
00:25:12.07\00:25:15.37
Brewer's yeast, don't
try, don't try that at
00:25:15.46\00:25:17.27
home. Some people
put Brewer's yeast in pop
00:25:17.38\00:25:20.35
corn. Okay. And my
family likes it but I
00:25:20.43\00:25:23.17
can't say I do. Alright.
Now although neuropathies
00:25:23.27\00:25:24.24
can't be cured, if
someone has a neuropathy,
00:25:27.78\00:25:30.75
they need to be very
careful, you've listened
00:25:30.80\00:25:32.24
to some things
that they need to do,
00:25:32.26\00:25:33.34
they need to wear
slippers if they go the
00:25:33.50\00:25:34.97
bathroom, have a
light on, what other things
00:25:35.03\00:25:37.42
do they need to go.
Well it's very important
00:25:37.48\00:25:39.11
everyday they inspect
particularly their feet.
00:25:39.27\00:25:41.95
Look at the feet
without the socks on,
00:25:42.14\00:25:45.14
if you have a mirror
you look at it or a spouse
00:25:45.40\00:25:48.08
that can look at the
bottom, you wanna inspect
00:25:48.14\00:25:50.38
it, so that you
didn't get a sliver,
00:25:50.43\00:25:52.07
you don't have
some problem in there.
00:25:52.27\00:25:54.55
Then since you can't
rely on your feeling,
00:25:54.84\00:25:57.60
rely on a thermometer.
So when you're taking
00:25:57.87\00:26:00.08
a bath make sure
it's not too hot. Yes.
00:26:00.10\00:26:02.54
And if you have a
shower, if you're taking
00:26:02.84\00:26:05.08
showers and your
shower is one of those that
00:26:05.11\00:26:07.13
some times it's hot,
some times it's cold.
00:26:07.26\00:26:09.42
You can get burned
and not really know it.
00:26:10.81\00:26:13.44
So you want to know,
you can put on a little
00:26:13.48\00:26:16.09
adaptive device, it's
very cheap, few dollars
00:26:16.16\00:26:18.86
that you can screw
into the head that will
00:26:19.26\00:26:23.47
turn it off, if it gets
too hot, if get suddenly
00:26:23.54\00:26:26.89
goes hot. Excellent,
so all these are very
00:26:26.98\00:26:30.40
practical tips. Let me
tell you one other thing,
00:26:30.54\00:26:32.92
okay. Some times people
will carry crock pots or
00:26:33.06\00:26:35.32
going to picnics and
their foot will be up
00:26:35.33\00:26:37.99
against the crock
pots and I've seen very
00:26:38.01\00:26:40.24
bad burns from
that. You have to use your
00:26:40.35\00:26:43.21
head instead of
your feeling. And you see
00:26:43.34\00:26:46.66
all these people after
the fact and then they're
00:26:46.68\00:26:48.93
trying to catch up,
this can really help you
00:26:49.01\00:26:51.07
avoid problems. You
know you are of course a
00:26:51.19\00:26:54.12
Christian
physician, you're part of the
00:26:54.19\00:26:55.44
Adventist medical
evangelism network and
00:26:55.52\00:26:57.84
that's a great society
for physicians to be in
00:26:58.77\00:27:01.40
as well. But you
bring you know the spiritual
00:27:01.47\00:27:06.13
into your care as
well and I'm sure we've
00:27:06.34\00:27:08.80
talked about how
wonderful pain is,
00:27:08.90\00:27:10.86
but I'm sure you're
looking forward to a
00:27:10.87\00:27:12.68
time may be when
there is no pain,
00:27:12.74\00:27:14.01
is there anything
that you share with your
00:27:14.03\00:27:15.67
patients when you
talk with them about pain.
00:27:15.80\00:27:18.21
Well particularly in
those cases of pain where
00:27:18.48\00:27:21.36
we can do so
little. We can still look
00:27:21.39\00:27:25.62
forward to the time
that God has promised
00:27:25.69\00:27:28.27
when pain will be no more.
00:27:29.02\00:27:31.29
And we look forward
to the time where God
00:27:32.86\00:27:36.28
shall wipe away all
tears from the eyes and
00:27:36.33\00:27:39.62
these pain receptors
will be used for something
00:27:39.70\00:27:43.43
besides telling us
about hurt. Well we've
00:27:43.49\00:27:47.84
learned so much
about our nerves today,
00:27:47.93\00:27:49.38
we thank you so much
Dr. Mills for being with
00:27:49.46\00:27:51.34
us and helping us
learn and we thank you also
00:27:51.38\00:27:54.10
for being with us.
We hope that you really
00:27:54.20\00:27:56.40
take this advice
to heart and have
00:27:56.50\00:27:58.45
health that
lasts for a lifetime.
00:27:58.59\00:28:00.03