What Is Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease?

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a neurological disorder, named after the three physicians who first described it in 1886 — Jean-Martin Charcot and Pierre Marie of France, and Howard Henry Tooth of the United Kingdom. Although most people have never heard of CMT, it affects some 115,000 Americans.

Unlike other neurological disorders, CMT usually isn't life-threatening, and it almost never affects the brain. It causes damage to the peripheral nerves — tracts of nerve cell fibers that connect the brain and spinal cord to muscles and sensory organs.

This nerve damage, or neuropathy, causes muscle weakness and wasting, and some loss of sensation, in the extremities of the body: the feet, the lower legs, the hands and the forearms.

Although CMT can look very similar to acquired neuropathy — a type of nerve damage caused by overexposure to certain chemicals — it isn't caused by anything a person does, and it isn't contagious. It's hereditary, meaning that it can be passed down through a family from one generation to the next.

Because of these features, CMT is sometimes called hereditary and motor sensory neuropathy (HMSN). Some doctors also use the old-fashioned name peroneal muscular atrophy, which refers to wasting of the peroneal muscle in the lower leg.

Peripheral nerves control movement by relaying impulses from the spinal cord (not shown) to our muscles (shown in the forearm). A single peripheral nerve is composed of many long nerve cell branches - or axons - that extend from the spinal cord and connect to muscle fibers. Each axon is surrounded by myelin made from the wrappings of Schwann cells.

There are even more names for CMT because the disease exists in many different forms, each unique in its severity, age of onset, progression and exact symptoms. For example, Dejerine-Sottas disease (DS) is a severe form of CMT that manifests during infancy.

Although there's no cure for CMT, there are treatments that can be used to effectively manage its symptoms. Those treatments, described here along with a general overview of CMT, have allowed many people with the disease to lead active, productive lives.

What Causes CMT?

CMT is caused by defects in genes — which are recipes for making the proteins that serve essential functions in our bodies. Each form of CMT is linked to a specific gene, and all of those genes make proteins found within the peripheral nerves.

Peripheral nerves provide an essential relay between your brain and the rest of your body. When you decide to move your leg, your brain sends an electrical signal to muscle-controlling nerve cells in your spinal cord, which then use the peripheral nerves to pass the signal on to your leg muscles.

And if you hurt your leg, you feel it because pain-sensitive nerve cells there have sent an electrical signal through your peripheral nerves to your brain.

The peripheral nerves are made up of fibers, or axons, that extend from sensory nerve cells and muscle-controlling nerve cells, and carry electrical signals to and from the spinal cord.

In order for you to move and react with precision and speed, axons have to transmit their signals within a fraction of a second. This is a real challenge for axons that have to stretch over long distances, like the ones connected to muscles in your fingers and toes.

To give axons a performance boost, each one is surrounded by a coating called myelin. Similar to the way plastic coating is used to insulate electrical wiring, myelin insulates the electrical signals in axons. It also provides essential nourishment to the axons.

More than a dozen genes have been implicated in CMT, each one linked to a specific type (and in many cases, more than one type) of the disease. (See "What Are the Different Types of CMT?") Some of those genes make proteins needed in axons, and others make proteins needed in myelin.

Defective myelin genes can cause a breakdown of myelin (called demyelination) while defective axon genes can cause an impairment of axon function (axonopathy).

In either case, the end result is the same: Defects in the axon or the myelin cause progressive damage to the axons.

The longest axons in the body are especially sensitive to damage, which explains why CMT mostly causes motor and sensory problems in the body's extremities.

What Happens to Someone With CMT, and How Is It Treated?

Partly because there are different types of CMT, the exact symptoms vary greatly from person to person. This section provides a general picture of CMT, and the next section describes different types of the disease.

CMT HASTASINA NE OLUR, NASIL TEDAVİ EDİLİR

Semptomlar kişiden kişiye çok değişiklik gösterdiğinden ve CMT nin farklı tipleri olduğundan tedavi kısmen mümkündür. Burada hastalığın genel bir görüntüsünü verip daha sonra farklı CMT tiplerini göreceğiz.

Muscle Weakness

In general, people with CMT experience slowly progressive weakness and wasting in the distal muscles (muscles in the body's extremities). Weakness in the proximal muscles (those closer to the center of the body) is unusual.

A doctor examines a patient with foot drop.

Usually, weakness begins in the feet and ankles, and manifests itself as foot drop — difficulty lifting the foot at the ankle, so that the toes point downward during walking. Foot drop causes frequent tripping, and with increasing weakness and attempts at compensation, the affected person develops an abnormal gait.

Many people with CMT make their first visits to a neurologist after they notice frequent trips and falls, ankle sprains, or ankle fractures, caused by foot drop.

When these problems occur, some people find they can overcome them just by wearing boots or high-top shoes to support the ankles.

Others might require leg braces, such as an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO), a removable cast that fits snuggly around the foot and ankle. Once made of clunky metal struts that required special shoes, AFOs are now made of lightweight plastic that's custom-molded to fit the wearer's legs, and can be worn underneath pants and tennis shoes.

A man with CMT puts on his AFOs, which fit into his shoes and under his jeans.

An older person with advanced CMT or someone with a severe type of CMT might require a motorized scooter or wheelchair to get around. Like AFOs, wheelchairs aren't what they used to be. There are wheelchairs that can be used to traverse almost any terrain — from shopping mall to hiking trail — many of them powered by the flip of a switch.

MDA assists with purchase and repair of AFOs and wheelchairs.

Late in the course of CMT, many people experience weakness in the hands and forearms, and have difficulty with gripping and fine finger movements, such as turning doorknobs, and buttoning and zippering clothes. Often, these problems can be overcome with occupational therapy, which helps people accomplish the "job" of daily living through the use of assistive devices.

For example, an occupational therapist might recommend that you put special rubber grips on your home's doors, or buy clothes that fasten with Velcro or snaps.

Your MDA clinic can refer you to an occupational therapist.

Weakness of the respiratory muscles is rare in people with CMT, but when it occurs it can be life-threatening. If you regularly experience shortness of breath, you should have your breathing checked by a specialist, who might recommend occasional or nighttime use of a ventilator.

Although it's usually too slight to cause disability or discomfort, some people with CMT experience tremor (involuntary shaking). CMT with obvious tremor is sometimes called Roussy-Levy syndrome.

Contractures and Bone Deformities

Foot contractures resulting in high-arched feet often occur in CMT.

Many people with CMT eventually develop contractures (stiffened joints) that result in deformities of the feet and hands.

The contractures occur because as some muscles around a joint weaken, others remain strong, contracting and pulling on the joint. Over time, the bones around the joint shift into abnormal positions.

For example, as muscles that lift the foot at the ankle become weak, muscles that lower and curl the foot downward contract and tighten, causing the most common type of foot deformity — a shortened foot with a high arch (pes cavus). As the contracture gets worse, the toes can become locked in a flexed position.

A small fraction of people with CMT develop "flat feet" (pes planus), presumably because of a different pattern of muscle weakness.

Physical therapy can help prevent contractures.

During walking, these deformities can cause unusual friction against the toes, heel and ball of the foot, leading to painful abrasions, blisters and calluses. If left untreated, the contractures and secondary abrasions tend to worsen over time, making it increasingly difficult to walk.

As CMT progresses, contractures in the hand can lock the fingers in a flexed position, and in rare cases severe proximal weakness can lead to scoliosis (side-to-side curvature of the spine) or kyphosis (front-to-back spine curvature).

A small fraction of people with severe CMT also experience hip displacement at an early age.

One of the most effective ways to keep muscles from tightening up and forming contractures is to begin a regular program of physical therapy, which usually consists of low-impact exercises and stretching.

Hand contractures can occur late in the course of CMT.

Your MDA clinic can help get you started on an individualized physical therapy program.

Foot contractures can also be delayed by using AFOs, which force the feet into a normal position and decrease stress on the ankles. Similarly, splints can be used to prevent unintended flexing of the toes and fingers.

If these methods fail and severe contractures occur, surgery can be used to loosen up tight muscles and tendons, or to correct bone deformities. Surgery is often necessary for advanced scoliosis.

Sensory Loss and Associated Symptoms

Because CMT causes damage to sensory axons, most people with CMT have a decreased sensitivity to heat, touch and pain in the feet and lower legs.

Although people with CMT often complain that their feet get cold (caused as much by a loss of insulating muscle as by damage to sensory axons), most of these sensory losses are undetectable except by a neurological exam — but it's important to recognize that they occur.

Combined with the regular abrasions caused by foot deformities, the lack of pain sensitivity makes people with CMT at risk for developing ulcerations — wounds that have gone unnoticed and become severely infected. If you have CMT, and especially if you have any foot deformities, you should check your feet regularly for injuries.

Paradoxically, some people with CMT experience more pain — a combination of painful muscle cramps and neuropathic pain. This pain isn't caused by an external trigger, but by defective signals in sensory axons.

Both types of pain can usually be alleviated with medication.

In many people with CMT, sensory loss is associated with dry skin and hair loss in the affected area.

In rare cases, sensory loss can include gradual hearing impairment and sometimes deafness. Watching out for these potential problems will enable you to seek appropriate treatment if necessary.

Drug Warning

The use of certain prescription drugs or excess alcohol can lead to acquired neuropathy, and thus might exacerbate CMT. Case studies have shown that the chemotherapy drug vincristine can cause rapid deterioration in people with CMT.

When taking a prescription drug for the first time, it's a good idea to consult your doctor about its possible effects on CMT.

What Are the Different Types of CMT?

The many different types of CMT are distinguished by age of onset, inheritance pattern, severity, and whether they're linked to defects in axon or myelin.

While those distinctions are useful, it's important to realize that, because of the vast number of genetic defects that can lead to CMT, some people fall on the borders between different types of CMT, and many have specific "subtypes" not detailed here.

(For more information about the genetics and inheritance of CMT, see "Does It Run in the Family?")

CMT1 and CMT2

Onset: usually childhood or adolescence

Inheritance: autosomal dominant

Features: These are the two most common forms of CMT. (In fact, a subtype of CMT1 called CMT1A, caused by a defect in the PMP22 gene on chromosome 17, accounts for around 60 percent of all CMT cases.)

CMT1 is caused by demyelination and CMT2 is caused by axonopathy, but both produce the classic symptoms described above.

CMT2 is sometimes associated with a treatable condition called restless legs syndrome, an irresistible urge to move the legs while sitting or lying down.

CMT3 and CMT4

Onset: infancy

Inheritance: autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive

Features: CMT3, better known as Dejerine-Sottas disease (DS), is a demyelinating CMT marked by early onset and severe distal weakness. Children with DS acquire motor milestones slowly, and some never gain the ability to walk. Others begin walking at preschool age or later, but many require wheelchairs by their teen-age years.

Scoliosis and ataxia (lack of coordination and balance) are common. (Some physicians think of DS as a severe form of CMT1 because the two diseases have been linked to different defects in the same genes, including PMP22.)

CMT4 encompasses different types of infantile-onset CMT and, unlike DS, is always autosomal recessive.

CMTX

Onset: childhood or adolescence

Inheritance: X-linked

Features: CMTX has symptoms similar to those of CMT1 and CMT2, but often affects males more severely than females.

Congenital Hypomyelinating Neuropathy (CHN)

Onset: congenital (at or near birth)

Inheritance: autosomal recessive, spontaneous

Features: Unlike other types of CMT, CHN is associated with reduced myelin formation (hypomyelination) from birth rather than a breakdown of existing myelin. Both genetically and clinically, it's similar to DS, but usually has an earlier onset and a nonprogressive or slowly progressive course.

Some children with CHN die of respiratory complications during infancy, but others grow up and experience gradual improvements in strength.

Hereditary Neuropathy with Liability to Pressure Palsies (HNPP)

Onset: usually adolescence.

Inheritance: autosomal dominant

Features: HNPP has an origin similar to that of CMT1A (it's caused by a distinct defect in the PMP22 gene), but usually a very different manifestation.

Most people with HNPP have recurring attacks of palsy (paralysis) or parasthesia (tingling) that are localized to a single limb and clear up after several weeks. Often, these attacks are brought on by a compression injury to the affected limb, but sometimes there's no obvious trigger. In other people, HNPP is progressive and resembles CMT.

How Is CMT Diagnosed?

A combination of lower leg weakness and foot deformities is a red flag for CMT, but isn't sufficient for diagnosis. When a patient has those symptoms, a well-trained neurologist will usually start with a physical exam to look for further signs of distal weakness and sensory loss.As a test for leg weakness, the neurologist might ask the patient to walk on his heels, or to move part of his leg against an opposing force.To look for sensory loss, the neurologist will usually test the patient's deep tendon reflexes (like the knee-jerk reflex), which are reduced or absent in most people with CMT.

During this initial evaluation, the neurologist will also ask about the patient's family history. A family history of CMT-like symptoms, combined with signs of nerve damage from the individual's physical exam, strongly point to CMT or another hereditary neuropathy.Lack of a family history doesn't rule out CMT, but might prompt the neurologist to ask about diabetes, overexposure to certain drugs and other potential causes of neuropathy.Next, if the diagnosis is still consistent with CMT, the neurologist may arrange for genetic testing. These tests, done by drawing a blood sample, are designed to detect the most common genetic defects known to cause CMT.A positive genetic test result can provide a definite diagnosis and useful information for family planning. But once again, a negative result doesn't rule out CMT. It might mean that the patient has CMT caused by an unknown genetic defect or one so rare there's no test for it.The neurologist may also perform a nerve conduction velocity test (NCV), which measures the strength and speed of electrical signals transmitted through nerves.It's done by placing surface electrodes, similar to those used for electrocardiograms, on the skin at various points over a nerve. One electrode delivers a mild shock that stimulates an electrical response in the nerve, and the others record this response as it travels through the nerve. (If necessary, a topical anesthetic or sedative is used to ease discomfort caused by the shocks.)Delayed responses are a sign of demyelination and small responses are a sign of axonopathy. Thus, NCV is often used to distinguish between CMT1 and CMT2.Other procedures sometimes used to diagnose CMT include electromyography (EMG), which measures the electrical signals in muscles, and less commonly, nerve biopsy, which involves the removal and examination of a small piece of nerve.

Does It Run in the Family?

On being told that they have a genetic disorder like CMT, patients often ask, "But it doesn't run in the family, so how could it be genetic?" CMT can run in a family, even when there's no obvious family history of it. In part, this is because CMT can be inherited in three different ways that aren't always easy to trace through a family tree: X-linked, autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive.88

X-linked means that the genetic defect (or mutation) is located on the X chromosome. In females, who have two X chromosomes, a normal copy of the gene on one chromosome can often compensate (at least partially) for the defective copy. Therefore, X-linked diseases usually affect males more severely than females, because males only have one X chromosome. X-linked diseases (like CMTX) cannot be passed from father to son.

Autosomal means the mutation occurs on a chromosome other than the X or Y. Therefore, autosomal diseases affect males and females equally. Autosomal recessive means that two copies of a defective gene are required for the full-blown disease. One copy is inherited from each parent, neither of whom would normally have the disease. Autosomal dominant means one copy of a defective gene is enough to cause disease. In that case, a person who inherits the defective gene from a parent will have the disease, as will the parent.

When CMT is passed on in an autosomal dominant pattern, it can be easy to recognize in the family tree. In contrast, X-linked or autosomal recessive types of CMT might seem to occur "out of the blue." But in reality, the mother or both parents might be carriers who silently harbor a genetic mutation. Many parents have no idea they're carriers of a disease until they have a child with the disease.

CMT actually can occur "out of the blue," when a new mutation occurs during the child's conception. These are called spontaneous mutations, and after they occur, they can be passed on to the next generation.

Your risk of inheriting or passing on CMT depends largely on what type of CMT you have (see "What Are the Different Types of CMT?"). A good way to find out more about this risk is to talk to your MDA clinic physician or a genetic counselor at the MDA clinic. Also, see MDA's pamphlet "Genetics and Neuromuscular Diseases."

MDA's Search for Treatment and Cures

In 1991, the genetic causes of CMT were completely unknown. But just 10 years later, MDA-funded scientists had helped to identify 10 CMT-linked genes and found evidence for several others. This accomplishment has led to genetic testing for many types of CMT, which has greatly improved diagnosis and given people with the disorder more information for family planning.

Of equal importance, the ongoing hunt for CMT genes has given insights into treatments that might be used to stop or reverse the disorder. As the CMT gene hunt nears completion, MDA-funded scientists are beginning to investigate how and why specific genetic mutations lead to different types of CMT. In the future, this knowledge could enable physicians to more accurately predict the course of CMT in individual patients.

In addition to genetic advances, MDA-funded scientists have made significant progress in understanding the biology of axons and Schwann cells — the cells that make myelin in the peripheral nerves. The formation and maintenance of myelin seems to require a finely tuned interaction between axons and Schwann cells, and within axons, there's an intricate railroad-like system for transporting nutrients from one end to the other. Some scientists hope to treat CMT by finding ways to improve axon-Schwann cell interaction or axonal transport.

Other scientists are investigating gene therapy for CMT. With MDA support, one group is developing a method to supply damaged nerves with genes that encode neurotrophic factors, naturally occurring proteins that stimulate nerve cell growth. In contrast to traditional gene therapy methods, which involve replacing a defective gene with a functioning one, this new approach could be used to treat all types of CMT, regardless of the underlying defect.

Finally, still other scientists hope to treat CMT with stem cells — primitive cells capable of generating specific cell types in the body. In recent laboratory experiments, scientists have found efficient ways to turn stem cells into nerve cells and myelin-producing cells, which might one day be used to repair the damaged nerves in people with CMT.

MDA Is Here to Help You

The Muscular Dystrophy Association offers a vast array of services to help you and your family deal with CMT or DS. The staff at your local MDA office is there to assist you in many ways. The Association's services include: