Diabetic patients must beware the complication known as diabetic neuropathy. This condition arises due to the elevated blood glucose levels that attends severe diabetes. The glucose damages the nerves, a condition known as neuropathy in medical parlance.
In the war against diabetic neuropathy, information is the only way to vanquish it. What is diabetic neuropathy, what are its symptoms and how it can be controlled, those are the questions we’re going to answer here.
The core of a living organism is its nervous system. Destroy that, and it lives no longer. The brain is nothing more than the hub of the nervous system. Autonomic diabetic neuropathy attacks the autonomic nervous system controlling the core functions essential to life. Peripheral diabetic neuropathy attacks the peripheral nervous system controlling the normal body functions. Focal diabetic neuropathy attacks nerves individually and selectively, these generally being localized to the lower limbs.
The predominant symptoms of diabetic neuropathy are given here for your information.
Temperature fluctuations, ranging from shivering to profuse sweating, and, sometimes, very rarely, even a simultaneous occurrence of both.
The patient faces uncontrollable urges to urinate suddenly. The same effect may apply to bowel movement but to a lesser extent.
Digestion-related problems like flatulence, belching, and vomiting.
The patient suffers from sexual disorders which prevent sexual functionality.
Erratic heartbeat, poor blood circulation, and heart seizures.
Since the nervous system is damaged, the patient may not be aware of wounds, cuts, and bites. He may not feel a rat nibbling at his feet. Wounds and sores on his back or the soles of his feet may go untended only because he can’t feel their pain. This is potentially dangerous. What if he gets a severe cut on his foot and he bleeds away without realizing it?
Symptomatic relief of diabetic neuropathy is possible in a number of ways. Symptomatic relief does not imply relief of the underlying condition causing the symptom. The condition will remain, but its attendant side-effects can be relieved.
The only way to control diabetic neuropathy is by ensuring that blood glucose remains within the prescribed norms, and this requires careful monitoring. Besides monitoring the blood glucose level, there are a number of medications which provide symptomatic relief of the problems experienced by the patient. The frazzled nerves generate pain signals which border on the intolerable. This can be alleviated by pain relievers. Blood chemistry modifiers are given to reduce the impact of the elevated blood glucose level. Normal sexual functionality can be restored by the topical application of creams and lubricants. Above all, the patient should realize the criticality of diabetic neuropathy, and should never attempt to self-medicate or do anything without his doctor’s knowledge and consent.
