Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetic Neuropathy
Diabetic neuropathy is one of the more painful problems
that occurs with the progression of diabetes. Neuropathy
is another term for nerve damage, and in this case, it is
nerve damage resulting from inadequate blood supply to the
nerves. The blood supply becomes restricted by
atherosclerotic plaque formation in the small blood vessels
that supply the nerves, and this is a common result of
increased blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides)
associated with diabetes.

Diabetic neuropathy typically first involves the feet, and
may later involve the hands, creating the "stocking and
glove" pattern of symptoms. As the nerves degenerate from
lack of blood supply (and therefore a lack of vital oxygen
to the nerve tissue), various symptoms of nerve damage
begin to arise. The symptoms of diabetic neuropathy may
include numbness, burning pain, tingling, and stabbing pain.

Because diabetic neuropathy is tied to poor blood flow (and
resulting decreased oxygen) to the nerves, symptoms tend to
be worse at the extremes of activity level. When someone
with diabetic neuropathy is inactive for an extended period
of time, such as when sleeping, overall blood pressure and
circulation decreases, resulting in decreased blood flow
and oxygen supply to the nerves, and increased neuropathy
symptoms. This often results in restless sleep, or a
complete inability to sleep due to pain.

On the other end of the activity range, when someone with
diabetic neuropathy exerts him or herself, overall
circulation is increased, but there is increased uptake of
oxygen by the large muscles. This means that less oxygen
is available in the smaller blood vessels that supply the
nerves in the feet and hands. This is why it is usually
necessary for people with diabetic neuropathy to rest
frequently any time they have to walk or exert themselves.

In addition to pain, the loss of nerve function in the feet
begins to interfere with balance and coordination when
walking. Balance is controlled by nerve signals from the
feet, visual cues from the eyes, and from the vestibular
system in the inner ears. While normal balance can
typically be maintained when one of these 3 systems is
partially diminished in function, major losses in one
system, or partial losses in two or all 3 can dramatically
interfere with balance when standing or walking. Since
diabetes not only causes loss of nerve function in the
feet, but also tends to eventually interfere with vision,
and because older diabetics often have other age-related
losses in the visual and vestibular senses, a major loss of
balance can result. The loss of balance is often one of
the more debilitating aspects of diabetic neuropathy, and
many times causes falls and other accidents that result in
injuries.

Medications are available that can decrease the pain of
diabetic neuropathy, but do little to improve actual nerve
function, nor help with neuropathy-related balance
problems. There are some natural treatments; however, that
do appear to improve nerve function in many cases. Of
course, the first line of defense is simply making the
necessary lifestyle changes to try to reverse diabetes
and/or to prevent it from getting worse, including diet and
exercise. Beyond that, there are nutritional supplements
and other interventions that have shown promising results
in recent studies in actually improving nerve function in
cases of diabetic neuropathy.

Probably the best of these natural treatments is
alpha-lipoic acid. Numerous studies have shown significant
improvements in diabetic neuropathy with both oral and
intravenous supplementation of this nutrient. Alpha-lipoic
acid is a strong anti-oxidant which is beneficial to
cardiovascular health, but also appears to have a direct
effect on healing diabetes-related nerve damage.

Another promising treatment is magnetic therapy,
particularly using magnetic shoe insoles for diabetic
neuropathy in the feet. It should be noted that there is a
large range in magnet strength used in magnetic insoles,
and it appears that the effectiveness of magnet therapy
improves with higher magnet strength (higher gauss rating).
Preliminary studies have shown good results with magnetic
insoles, and it is speculated that magnetic gloves might
produce similar results in neuropathy of the hands.

While it may not be possible to completely eliminate
diabetic neuropathy, there is much that can be done to
improve the situation with natural remedies in the majority
of cases.

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For more information about help for diabetes and other
conditions, including resources for alpha-lipoic acid and
magnetic therapy, please visit Dr. Best's natural remedies
blog at http://BestHealthAndWellnessInfo.com/go/diabetes/ .
Dr. Best is a holistic healthcare provider in San Antonio,
Texas.