Neuritis is the general inflammation of the peripheral nervous system.

Symptoms

Symptoms depend on the nerves involved, but may include pain, paresthesia, paresis, hypoesthesia (numbness), anesthesia, paralysis, wasting, and disappearance of the reflexes.

Causes

• Infection:
• Herpes simplex
• Shingles
• Leprosy
• Guillain-Barre syndrome

• Chemical injury
• Physical injury
• Radiation
• Underlying conditions causing localized neuritis (affecting a single nerve):
• Diphtheria
• Localized injury
• Diabetes

• Underlying conditions causing polyneuritis (affecting multiple nerves):
• Beriberi
• Vitamin B12 deficiency
• Metabolic diseases
• Diabetes
• Hypothyroidism
• Porphyria
• Infections, bacterial and/or viral
• Autoimmune disease, especially Multiple Sclerosis
• Cancer
• Alcoholism
• Wartenbergs migratory sensory neuropathy

Types

• Polyneuritis or Multiple neuritis
• Brachial neuritis
• Optic neuritis
• Peripheral neuritis, also known as Peripheral neuropathy
• Vestibular neuritis
• Cranial neuritis, often representing as Bell's Palsy
• Arsenic neuritis

See also

• Neurology
• Nerve
• Nervous tissue
• Myelin

Sources

• Neuritis, W.B. Saunders Company; 30th B/Cdr edition (May, 2003)
• Arsenic Poisoning - NERVOUS DISTURBANCES

External links

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
• Neuropathy Association