Sometimes, neuropathy may be the first sign of diabetes. Significant nerve problems (clinical neuropathy) can occur within the first 10 years after diabetes. If you have diabetes, you can develop nerve problems at any time. Significant nerve problems (clinical neuropathy) can occur within the first 10 years after a diagnosis of diabetes.
The risk of developing neuropathy increases the longer you have diabetes. About half of people with diabetes have some form of neuropathy. As the first stage of diabetic neuropathy, prediabetic neuropathy refers to nerve damage that occurs in people who have not yet been diagnosed with diabetes, but who have higher than normal blood sugar levels. This condition can be a warning sign of the development of diabetes.
and should not be ignored. Diabetic neuropathy describes a type of nerve damage in people with diabetes that affects several nerves in the body. Diabetic neuropathy usually develops slowly over time and can cause symptoms, such as pain, numbness, and tingling. To date, no detailed information is available on the relationship between insulin and nerve conduction.
However, the comparison of the best-studied dose-response relationships between insulin, blood glucose and pain pressure thresholds (Figure 10A) allows us to speculate that, in rats, the control of glucose metabolism can tolerate insulin levels at least five times lower to those for nerve function. Since this difference was confirmed in both animals and humans, the result of these studies is of great importance. This finding may explain the development of neuropathy in prediabetes and also suggests that neuropathy may begin in stages prior to prediabetes, so some therapeutic interventions are warranted to correct insulin levels or insulin resistance (see next section) in prediabetic patients. We generally trace the course of the disease in five different stages.
When you control your blood sugar properly, the progression of type 1 diabetes can often slow down significantly or even stop. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy develops slowly and insidiously and worsens over time. Signs of the disease can occur even before a person is formally diagnosed with diabetes. The symptoms begin in the longest nerves in the body and first affect the feet and, later, the hands, following the pattern of “socks and gloves”. Symptoms usually spread slowly and evenly across the legs and arms. Peripheral neuropathy caused by type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes is called diabetic polyneuropathy.
It's probably because high blood sugar levels damage the tiny blood vessels that supply nerves. When treating late-stage diabetic neuropathy, it's essential to prioritize personalized care and proactively manage your well-being. Treatment-induced diabetic neuropathy can develop as a side effect of certain medications used to control diabetes, particularly those used to control sugar levels in blood. Because nerve damage can occur gradually over time, you may not notice any symptoms of neuropathy until many years after a diabetes diagnosis.
It is essential to prioritize personal care and seek support from health professionals to effectively overcome the complexities of this condition and treat all types of diabetic and non-diabetic neuropathy. In contrast, diabetic neuropathy results from prolonged high blood sugar levels and encompasses a variety of nerve damage, such as peripheral, autonomic, proximal, and focal neuropathies. The symptoms of diabetic neuropathy depend on the type of neuropathy and the number of nerves affected. The diagnosis of diabetic neuropathies is based on history, clinical examination, and supporting laboratory tests.
Neuropathy can be caused by causes other than diabetes, and includes conditions such as autoimmune disorders, infections, traumatic injuries, and genetic predispositions. Blood glucose control, meal planning, physical activity, and medications for diabetes or insulin will help control blood glucose levels. In the advanced stage of diabetic neuropathy, people may experience sensory ataxia, which can cause problems with coordination and balance, posing challenges in daily activities. Living with diabetic neuropathy can be challenging, and seeking support from health professionals is essential to effectively manage this condition.
Therefore, it is quite possible that correcting insulin levels in treatments for type 1 diabetes or insulin sensitization therapy in cases of type 2 diabetes not only corrects glucose metabolism, but also has independent effects on the function of the PNS. In diabetic peripheral neuropathy, chronically high blood sugar levels as a result of diabetes damage nerves not only in the extremities, but throughout the body.
