Someone I know was recently told be her doctor that she had a disease
which would lead to her 'nerves' disintegrating. She was told it was
an extremely rare condition called (the doctor wrote it down)
myelopolyradiculopathy - an autoimmune disease. I said I would try to
find out more about it from the internet, but can find no reference to
it. Can you help?

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Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 18 Aug 2002 06:18 PDT

Hi spangles...

I found a reference to myeloradiculopathy.
I'm pretty sure the poly part just means
it has set in, in more than one place.

Would you like information regarding what
I found about myeloradiculopathy?

Pass on my condolences to her

-AI

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Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 18 Aug 2002 06:22 PDT

Only problem is, it doesn't read like
you described it. Disintegration, or
degeneration?

-AI

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Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 18 Aug 2002 06:26 PDT

Did she contract this from something?
I have found a few vectors and causes
of the myeloradiculopathy. As well as
several different types. Cervical is
quoted most frequently. Happen to know
if it had a 'type'?

-AI

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Request for Question Clarification by nealc-ga on 20 Aug 2002 15:01 PDT

Hunting down information for your friends condition has been a
problem. Myeloradiculopathy is a general term for an inflammation of
the spinal nerves and nerve roots (the nerves that make contact with
the spinal cord). There are several causes of myeloradiculopathy. A
parasitic infection due to Schistosomes and the spread of the
tuberculosis bacterium to the spinal cord and brain. I can not find in
Dorland's Medical Dictionary nor in various medical sources any
reference to a autoimmune myelopolyradiculopathy. The only reference I
found was to an autoimmune myeloradiculopathy due to tuberculosis. To
better answer this question and for your friend's sake they should go
back to their physician and get a clear and understandable description
of her condition.

Hi Spangles - 

The description of your friend's diagnosis does not offer quite enough
information to do a thorough web search.  I can see why you had
trouble finding information on the Internet for
"myelopolyradiculopthy."  Myeloradiculopathy is a general term which
refers to a disease of the nerve roots and the spinal cord resulting
in damage to them. The results may be temporary or they may lead to
permanent dysfunction. The "poly" in the term would refer to the fact
that several nerve roots are involved, but is usually not part of the
medical term.

The autoimmune descriptor is also a general one; it  just puts your
friend's disease in a general class of diseases which are caused by a
person's immune reactions to his or her own body tissues.

That said, you can go to the following site to find out more about
radiculopathy:
Radiculopathies
http://128.104.8.64/SClinic/Radiculo/Radiculopathy.htm

To look at abstracts of scientific articles about myeloradiculopathy:
Pub Med; National Library of Medicine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Preview&DB=PubMed
Type "myeloradiculopathy" in the Search box
Do it again using "radiculomyelopathy"

I did the PubMed searches and found nothing that I thought would be of
value to you, but I wanted you to have the opportunity to look at what
is there.

I hesitate to send you on a wild goose chase.   Especially where the
term "autoimmune" is used, this could mean that the problem is a
"demyelinating disease,"  a body's attack on the insulation material
surrounding nerves and spinal cord.

The autoimmune track leads, for example, leads to a rare syndrome like
Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune disease of rapidly progressive
motor neuron paralysis. Or it could be connected to Multiple
Sclerosis, a demyelinating disease,  But neither Guillain-Barre nor
Multiple Scerosis is commonly associated with radiculopathy.  The
latter is more often attributed to compression of the nerve roots by
some mechanical means (like a slipped disk).

I would say to get more precise information if that is available. 
Then you can do a straightforward search of the Internet.

For info on Guillain-Barre, see:
 
NINDS Guillain-Barre Syndrome Information Page
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/gbs.htm

For info on Multiple Sclerosis, see: 
NINDS Multiple Sclerosis Information Page
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/multiple_sclerosis.htm

I hope this information has been helpful to you.  Good luck in your
quest to help your friend.  And the best of luck to your friend.  I
sincerely hope that whatever it is clears up soon.