How To Diagnose And Treat Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP)

Corticosteroids

Symptoms of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy are caused by an abnormal reaction of the patient's immune system where it attacks and destroys the cells that make up the myelin sheath around the nerves. Corticosteroids are a type of medication that changes mediator functions in the part of the body where the immune system is attacking its own tissues and alters the synthesis of proteins in the cells to suppress the immune responses and inflammation. In the cases of many individuals with autoimmune conditions, corticosteroids are used as the first-line treatment to help the patient's symptoms go into remission. Corticosteroids are known to be effective for the treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy in most individuals, but may not work for everyone. Other treatment methods are often used alongside corticosteroids in patients with severe CIDP. Some of the most common corticosteroids used in individuals with CIDP include intravenous methylprednisolone, oral daily prednisone, and pulsed dexamethasone.

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Intravenous Immunoglobulin

Intravenous immunoglobulin is an infusion composed of small portions of IgM and IgA and a more significant portion of heterogeneous human IgG. In each batch of intravenous immunoglobulin, there are blood components that have been prepared from the serum of between one and fifteen thousand human donors. This type of solution can provide a wide array of antibodies with the capacity to neutralize the components of the immune system causing damage to the affected individual's myelin sheathing. The exact mechanism of action that has proven to show improvements in the symptoms of CIDP is not clear, but it is thought to involve the inhibition of the autoantibody action on the healthy tissues. Intravenous immunoglobulin has been able to promote the remyelination of lacking nerves, which may reverse some of the damage done by the affected individual's rogue immune system.

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