Tight Sugar Control
Protects Diabetic's Nerves
Excerpt By David Douglas, Reuters Health

Tight control of blood sugar levels seems to protect the nerves of patients with type 1 diabetes, new research suggests.

Nerve disease, or neuropathy, is common among patients with diabetes. Most often, it leads to sensory problems in the feet or hands. At late stages, it is not uncommon to find patients who are completely unaware when a sharp object touches, or even pierces, the skin.

Dr. Jakob R. Larsen, from Ullevaal University Hospital in Oslo, and colleagues note that diabetic neuropathy is among the most common long-term complications of the condition.

To identify risk factors for neuropathy, the researchers followed 39 diabetic patients over the course of 18 years. Their average age when the study began was 25 years and at that point, they had had diabetes for about 12 years.

Special electrical tests were used to determine how well the nerves in the leg worked, the report published in Diabetes Care indicates.

The authors found that patients with the best long-term control of blood sugar levels experienced the smallest drop in nerve function. In fact, in some patients with really good control, nerve function was nearly normal.

Summing up, Larsen told Reuters Health that even after 30 years of diabetes, "most patients who managed to have good (blood sugar) control hardly had any reduction in nerve (function)." This is a "good argument" for doctors to encourage good control.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, August 2003.

Reference Source 89

For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".