Joanne just celebrated her 50th birthday and knows that she should probably see her physician for a physical. She's generally in good health, but has been experiencing some odd symptoms lately. Joanne has been experiencing mild to moderate headaches once or twice a week, usually in the morning hours. She feels that her mental acuity "isn't what it used to be" and forgets the day of the week occasionally. Her husband often complains that she has the TV too loud, but Joanne thinks it's a normal volume. She has noticed that her feet and toes are colder and she has to wear socks and slippers around the house to be comfortable.
A few nights a week, she wakes up in the middle of the night with tingling and numbness in her right hand. Joanne works at a desk all day and she notices a sharp, and sometimes throbbing, pain in her feet bilaterally after a long workday. She was thinking that her symptoms were just part of aging, but wonders if it could be abnormal. She has no history of major trauma, alcoholism, cancer, or inherited diseases.
Which of the following choices would best describe the symptoms in Joanne's feet?
- Permanent neuron damage to the sympathetic nervous system
- Sensory neuron dysfunction
- Both sensory and motor neuron dysfunction
- Motor neuron dysfunction