Which term describes a disease affecting multiple nerves, commonly seen in diabetic neuropathy with stocking-glove distribution?

• A. Mononeuropathy
• B. Plexopathy
• C. Polyneuropathy
• D. Radiculopathy

Answer: (C)

The main idea is understanding how neuropathies are classified by how many nerves are involved and how the symptoms spread. In diabetes, the classic pattern is a distal symmetric polyneuropathy, where many nerves are affected in a symmetric, length-dependent way. This produces the stocking-glove distribution: sensory changes start in the feet and hands and progress inward, because the longest nerves are hit first. The term that describes disease affecting many nerves is polyneuropathy, which fits this pattern perfectly.

This differs from other nerve problems: mononeuropathy is injury to a single nerve, causing focal deficits in its nerve distribution; plexopathy involves the nerve plexus (a network of nerves), producing more proximal or widespread but not necessarily symmetric distal patterns; and radiculopathy involves the nerve roots, typically with dermatomal pain and deficits that follow a nerve root rather than a peripheral nerve distribution. So for diabetic neuropathy with a stocking-glove pattern, polyneuropathy is the best descriptor.