NEED INFORMATION ABOUT NEUROPATHY

  Can you please briefly explain  the difference in axonal and dymelizing (spell?) in reference to neuropathy (I hope I'm asking the right question).  Is one more disabling than the other?  Can you tell me the long-term outcome? My wife has neuropathy and the doctor said she may have one or the other.  We're waiting to hear.  The terms are a little confusing but can't find much on the internet.  Thank you!
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Dear R.J.:
Axonal neuropathy is the more common "run of the mill" type neuropathy, while demyelinating neuropathy is less common and usually has a more specific pattern to it. The axon is the long nerve cell process that conducts electrical impulses to (sensory) or from (motor) the spinal cord. A nerve is like a cable consisting of numerous axons. A fair number of axons are surrounded by a segmented fatty insulation called myelin. This helps conduct electrical impulses faster. In axonal neuropathies the axons die or suffer injury. The longest axons (to the toes) suffer damage the earliest, in a form of axonal neuropathy called "peripheral neuropathy" or "polyneuropathy". Axonal neuropathy, if patchy and asymmetric, is often termed "mononeuritis multiplex". Diabetes, drugs, toxins, vasculitis, uremia, etc. are some of the more common causes of axonal neuropathy. Demyelinating neuropathy involves damage to the myelin with relative preservation of the axons. Some forms run in families, in which case the neuropathy is termed "Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome", or CMT, in which nerves are uniformly affected and slow in their function. Acquired or inflammatory forms of demyelinating neuropathy are more common, and fall into the broad categories of acute (Guillain Barre syndrome = GBS) and chronic (CIDP). Both of these, specially GBS, tend to be quite patchy, and weakness can be quite severe. GBS and AIDP have specific effective treatments. Some forms of chronic demyelination neuropathy have an association with some forms of lymphatic malignancy.
I hope this answers your question.