The Cause of Chronic Hyperglycemia Leads to Peripheral Neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage that occurs due to high blood glucose in the blood. Elevated blood glucose can damage nerves throughout the body, however, the effect is usually most pronounced in the upper and lower limbs.

Diabetic neuropathy is usually divided into two main groups:

1. Peripheral neuropathy (affects peripheral nerves of the body such as nerves in the arms, legs, cranial nerves)
2. and autonomic neuropathy (which is the nerve that controls the activities of organs like the stomach, intestines, heart, urinary system)

The cause of chronic hyperglycemia leads to peripheral neuropathy

Nerve damage to nerves and blood vessels is a major factor in diabetic neuropathy.

Elevated blood glucose causes damage to the nerves and decreases the speed of nerve conduction. The exact mechanism of injury is not known. In addition, the small blood vessels that feed the damaged nerve cause oxygen and nutrient supply to nerves to decline.

Many other factors also contribute to nerve damage in patients with diabetes:

• Inflammation in the nerve due to an autoimmune reaction: occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly believes that nerves are foreign objects and attack the nerve. (Note: The immune system is the system that is responsible for preventing the entry of foreign objects into the body such as bacteria, toxic chemicals ...)
• Genetic factors.
• Smoking cigarettes, alcoholism: damaging nerves, blood vessels, and also increases the risk of infection. Tobacco causes narrowing and stiffening of the blood vessels, reducing blood flow to the extremities, making long-term healing and also contributing to nerve damage.
• The duration of diabetes: the longer you become ill (especially when blood glucose is not stable well), the risk of neurological disease increases. Peripheral neuropathy is most common in diabetics who have been ill for 25 years or more.
• Chronic kidney disease: when a diabetic patient has chronic kidney disease, the toxins that increase in the blood can further damage the nerves.

Learn about solutions for peripheral neuropathy:

• Diabetic Feet and How to Care For Them
• Physiotherapy for Chronic Peripheral Neuropathy

More details for Peripheral Neuropathy Physiotherapy - Red Light Soothing For Plantar Fasciitis-Neuropathy-Tired Feet:

What are the neurological complications of diabetes?

Symptoms of diabetic neuropathy are diverse, vary depending on the organ involved. Symptoms are often very faint, so the patient may not care until the doctor finds that a serious injury has occurred. The affected period is as follows:

1. Peripheral complications

This is the most common presentation and the feet on either side are the first symptom area. After that, the symptoms will spread to the legs or appear more on the hands. Symptoms are usually symmetrical on both sides of the limbs. Patients often feel:

• Numbness, decreased awareness of pain, hot and cold, especially in the feet. Patients often dropped sandals, trampled sharp objects, wounds without even knowing it.
• Stinging, burning sensation.
• Burning sensation, usually increasing at night.
• Pain when walking.
• Sometimes patients have symptoms of hypersensitivity: even the slightest touch the patient also feels a lot of pain.
• Muscle weakness and difficulty walking.
• Foot ulcers, infections, deformity of the feet, pain in the joints when the disease has progressed

More details for Diabetic Neuropathy of the Feet:

2. Autonomic neurological complications

Because the autonomic nerve is the system that controls many different organs on the body, the symptoms of the disease will vary depending on the organ being injured. Detail:

• In the eye: the pupil loses reflexes with light, darkness, or blinding vision
• In the digestive system: stomach cramps slow down so the patient often feels bloated after eating; have choking sensation, difficulty swallowing, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite; constipation or diarrhea, especially nocturnal diarrhea or constipation mixed with diarrhea.
• In the cardiovascular system: resting tachycardia, orthostatic hypotension (when changing posture from lying to sitting or standing suddenly, the patient feels dizzy, lightheaded, sometimes fainting due to lowering blood pressure) . At the same time, patients lose the sense of alert when hypoglycemia such as feeling hungry, sweating, fear, heart palpitations ...; Therefore, if not treated promptly (eg, eating, drinking sugar water), the patient may become comatose quickly.
• In the urinary system, genitals: stagnation of urine in the bladder (also called the nerve bladder) for a long time leads to urinary tract infection. Patients may also urinate many times, difficult to hold urine. Erectile dysfunction in men, decreased pleasure in women, vaginal dryness.
• In the skin: increased or decreased sweating, disorders regulating body temperature, hot and cold erratic.

3. Other nerve damage

Uncommon cases are neurological complications that occur only on one nerve, causing monopathy (also known as local neuropathy) with common symptoms are double vision, pain behind the sockets of the eyes if damaged. damage to the nerves of the eye; facial paralysis, distorted mouth, difficulty speaking due to one-sided nerve damage; pain in the lower legs, feet, pain in the front of the thigh, chest pain, abdominal pain ... when hurting the sensory fibers corresponding to the dominant area.

If diabetic neuropathy affects the nerves and nerves moderately, then manifestations of plexus-root disease. This complication is often seen in older people with type 2 diabetes and symptoms usually occur on one side or sometimes on or side with injuries to the thighs, hips, buttocks, lower legs. Patients with severe pain suddenly appear in the thighs, abdomen, thigh muscles weak and atrophic, difficult to change posture from sitting to standing.