Peripheral neuropathy is one of the many long-standing complications of diabetes. Neuropathy usually occurs around 8 to 10 years after the onset of diabetes. However, it is not uncommon to see patients with neuropathic symptoms who are diagnosed with diabetes at that time or patients with 20 or more years of diabetes with little or no evidence of neuropathy. About half of people with diabetes have nerve damage.
Often, symptoms don't start until many years after a diabetes diagnosis. Some people who have diabetes that develops slowly already have nerve damage when they are first diagnosed. Symptoms, electrodiagnostic studies and reduced nerve fiber density are compatible with small fiber neuropathy, although the changes are less prominent compared to those of fluffy diabetics. People with diabetes are more likely to be hospitalized for a foot ulcer than for any other complication of diabetes.
People with diabetes have too much sugar in their blood because their body can't move glucose to fat, liver and muscle cells to transform and store it for energy. Figure 2 Proximal muscle atrophy in a 55-year-old diabetic male patient with diabetic lumbosacral radiculoplexoneuropathy. Trapping neuropathies are common in diabetic patients and cause unilateral changes in the NCV, especially in the trapped nerve segment. Diabetic neuropathy (ND) refers to the symptoms and signs of neuropathy in a patient with diabetes in whom other causes of neuropathy have been ruled out. The symptoms of diabetic neuropathy consist of slow, insidious numbness and tingling of the lower extremities that can progress to painful neuropathy.
Orthostatic hypotension, tachycardia at rest, and lack of heart rate response to breathing are distinctive features of diabetic autonomic neuropathy. It is the most common cause of hospitalization than other diabetes complications and it is also the most common cause of non-traumatic amputations. Acute neuropathic pain is sometimes associated with weight loss and depression and has been referred to as diabetic neuropathic cachexia. Diabetes is on the rise worldwide and is a serious, lifelong condition that can lead to heart disease, stroke, and long-lasting nerve, eye and foot problems.
The main danger of sensory neuropathy for a person with diabetes is a loss of feeling in the feet, especially if you don't realize that this has happened. Diabetic neuropathy is suspected when the patient's history and physical examination are compatible with the clinical picture of an environment diabetic.
