For individuals with diabetes, it is imperative that they manage the condition through lifestyle, dietary changes and medication. This is not just to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, eye and kidney damage, but also to prevent nerve damage.
According to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several epidemiological studies, half of all individuals with diabetes suffer from diabetic neuropathy, a condition in which nerves are damaged due to high levels of blood sugar. This can lower their quality of life and predispose them to several other conditions.
A high level of blood glucose affects the nerves in our body in a way similar to how it affects the eyes and the kidneys. It weakens and narrows the blood vessel, makes them inefficient at delivering blood to cells and causes their death.
The nerves in our body are embedded with numerous minute blood vessels called capillaries that supply oxygen and nutrients to neurons. Any disruption to the nerves will affect the nervous system’s ability to transmit signals to and from the brain, affecting an individual’s ability to sense things.
Moreover, when the blood sugar level is high, the blood becomes viscous and hard to flow. The sugar in the blood also increases its stickiness to the walls of arteries, raising the risk of blood clots. Eventually, blood vessels lose their elasticity, become narrow and cannot keep up healthy blood supplies.
Persistent high blood sugar levels also lower the amount of nitric oxide in the body which acts as a natural agent to dilate blood vessels. This consistently lowers the blood supply to cells, which leads to an irreversible loss of nerve cells and worsens the condition.
Nerve damage can take place anywhere in the body and the symptoms show where the damage has taken place.
Peripheral neuropathy
The US National Institute of Health says that about one-third of the neuropathic population has peripheral neuropathy that affects the legs and feet, and sometimes the arms and hands as well.
Sensations of burning, tingling, prickliness, numbness and weakness in legs, feet and hands can be a sign of peripheral neuropathy. In extreme cases, individuals can also feel intense unbearable pain when their hands or legs are touched, along with an inability to sense changes in temperature or pain.
This can affect the way a person walks and keeps the balance and can also lead to loss of muscle mass. Other signs of diabetic neuropathy are swollen feet, ingrown nails, frequent corns, calluses and ulcers in the affected region of the body.
Autonomic neuropathy
High blood sugar can also affect the autonomic nerves. These nerves control involuntary body functions such as the beating of the heart, bladder regulation, the eyes, functions of the stomach and the intestines and the sex organs.
When diabetes affects any nerves in these areas it can worsen the quality of an individual’s life.
The identifiers of this can be a lack of awareness of low blood sugar, a plunge of blood pressure when rising from a sitting or lying position, not able to control bladder and bowel functions, slow emptying of food from the stomach, difficulty in swallowing, eyes unable to adapt quickly to changes from light to dark or far to near, decreased sweating, erectile problems and vaginal dryness, to name a few.
Focal neuropathy
In focal neuropathy, the damage is focussed on a single nerve. This kind of nerve damage happens mostly in the face, torso, arms, or legs. Affected individuals may not be able to focus on objects and may also have double vision, one-sided paralysis of the face, numbness or tingling sensations in the fingers, weakness in the hands, difficulty in lifting feet and pain in the shin or thigh, to name a few.
Ways to manage diabetes
Unfortunately, there is no known way to reverse the damage done to our nerves. The only tips to manage diabetes or, to fight diabetic neuropathy is to prevent or delay its progression once the symptoms are spotted or as soon as one is diagnosed with diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association advises individuals to get screened for neuropathy alongside a positive diagnosis for diabetes.
One needs to follow certain measures to reduce the risk of diabetic neuropathy. Among them are: maintaining blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg, keeping blood sugar levels in check, leading an active lifestyle and following a healthy diet.
It is also imperative for people with diabetes to strictly follow the medications prescribed by their doctors and avoid the risk of developing co-morbidities.
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