What is "diabetic neuropathy"?

What is "diabetic neuropathy"?

Anne Peters, MD, FACP, CDE (Professor and Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs, USC Keck School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: Does taking additional insulin correct a high blood sugar level?; Why is my blood pressure important if I have diabetes?; What are the most common causes of death for people with diabetes? and more...

Diabetic neuropathy means that the nerves are damaged due to high blood sugar levels and it takes on a whole bunch of different forms. The most classic kind is what we call peripheral neuropathy, which is a kind of neuropathy that starts in the tip of the toes. Actually it is on both sides, not just one. It often starts out as a tingling as if the nerves are being irritated. That tingling can eventually become really very bad pain and then eventually that pain goes away and the foot becomes (or both feet) become numb. When those feet become numb it means they can't feel either say a rock or a piece of glass in the bottom of the foot. People often become unsteady because they can't feel where their feet are; they lose what we call peripheral perception or the ability to know where your body parts are in space and that neuropathy can go up your legs you can also get it of your fingers and arms. But the neuropathy for diabetes is not just of those peripheral nerves it is many other places as well. it can affect the nerves that go to the stomach so people get something called gastroparesis which means their stomach doesn't empty normally so they get full and bloated and nauseated. It can cause the bladder to not also empty normally so people can get bladder problems. It can cause the intestines to get too much bacteria so people get constipation and diarrhea. It can cause the sexual organs not to work right so it causes a lot of erectile dysfunction in men and probably causes difficulties in women as well.There is effects on blood pressure as well. It can cause blood pressure to fall abnormally low as well as be too high. And so basically everything in the body that is controlled by nerves, which is pretty much everything in the body, can be affected by diabetic neuropathy. It sounds grim, which it is except that A) we can prevent it and B) if you know that you are at risk for it and we diagnose it then we can offer specific treatments say, for gastroparesis or the bladder problems so like everything, knowing more about it is helpful.