May 13, 2005

Most Diabetics Unaware of Serious Complication

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The majority of people with diabetes have never heard of diabetic neuropathy -- nerve damage that causes pain, numbness, or tingling in the feet and hands -- researchers report.

Furthermore, only one in four people with symptoms of diabetic neuropathy had ever been diagnosed by their doctors.

"The numbers are spectacular," study author Dr. Aaron I. Vinik of the Strelitz Diabetes Research Institute in Norfolk, Virginia, told Reuters Health.

People with diabetes who experience any of the symptoms need to speak to their doctors right away, Vinik recommended. "Ask your doctor one question: Do I have neuropathy, and please would you mind examining me?"

According to the American Diabetes Association, which commissioned the study, an estimated 50 percent of diabetics develop neuropathy.

People with neuropathy are at increased risk of foot injury and even amputation, because injuries can go unnoticed due to lack of sensation and then develop into ulcers or lesions that become infected.

Even without serious injuries, diabetics with neuropathy can become hypersensitive to even the lightest touch, so that wearing socks or touching bed sheets, for example, can be very painful.

For the study, Vinik and his team interviewed 8,119 people about diabetic neuropathy, whether they had any symptoms of the condition, and if it had ever been diagnosed.

The investigators found that more than 7 out of 10 diabetics said they had experienced symptoms of neuropathy in the past year.

However, 56 percent of the people who were having symptoms had never heard of diabetic neuropathy. Nearly 1 in 7 diabetics with symptoms of neuropathy who had mentioned their symptoms to their doctors said that their doctors had not mentioned anything about a potential cause.

The American Diabetes Association is launching a campaign to promote awareness of the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy, and what diabetics can do to prevent, reduce or manage the condition.

Source: http://www.nlm.nih.gov