What Is the Mary Tooth Disease?

QUESTION: We are a long way from our family, and probably have the story all
wrong, but we are worried and seeking help. It seems our granddaughter has
the Mary Tooth disease, and now is going to a medical specialist for care.
Shouldn't she be seeing a dentist? What is it our children are keeping from
us?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWER: It isn't hard to become confused when doctors keep using the names of
the discoverers of a disease when discussing it with patients, instead of
something more descriptive. Dr. H.H. Tooth, an Englishman, along with two
French physicians, P. Marie and J. M. Charcot, described a condition of muscle
weakening in the legs in 1886. Today the the disease is frequently called
Charcot-Marie-Tooth. And neurologists and orthopedic surgeons frequently work
together to combine their skills in fighting the effects of "hereditary
sensory-motor neuropathy;" another, more descriptive name of the disease. It
starts at puberty or young adulthood, usually with weakness and changes in
feeling in the foot, then the legs. It is genetically transmitted disease,
and other similar diseases can frequently be found in the family pedigree. It
is slowly progressive, altering the gait and reflexes of the affected part.
It is seldom totally incapacitating, and frequently becomes stationary. The
diagnosis is confirmed by using electrical test of the muscles, and conduction
in the nerves. There is no specific treatment for the disease, but bracing
may help the weakness in the foot, and surgery can be used to help stabilize
the affected foot. Maybe your children are trying to keep some of the pain
from you, but now that you know what I can offer, perhaps you can add your
strength to theirs, and a phone call seems in order.