Can Diabetic Neuropathy Be Reversed?

Can diabetic neuropathy be reversed?

Diabetic neuropathy refers to nerve damage caused by diabetes.
Neuropathy is a common condition impacting 60 to 70 percent of adults with diabetes. However, it mainly concerns those with uncontrolled blood sugar levels or those who have had diabetes for more than 25 years.
The nerve damage caused by diabetic neuropathy is irreversible but there are ways to lessen symptoms and prevent further harm.
Contents of this article:
What is diabetic neuropathy?
Diabetic neuropathy is a family of progressive nerve disorders related to type 1 and 2 diabetes.
Although research is still taking place on this type of nerve damage, doctors think that blood sugars may damage nerve cells by impairing nerve fibers and reducing or confusing signaling.
However, nerve damage is likely to be caused by a combination of factors, such as how the immune system functions, genetics, smoking, or alcohol use.
Neuropathy can cause a range of symptoms, including pain, loss of sensation, numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness.
Although neuropathy can occur wherever there are nerves, it tends to affect the legs and feet.
Those with diabetic neuropathy tend to:
have poor blood sugar control
be over the age of 40
be overweight or obese
have had diabetes for at least 10 to 25 years, depending on the severity
Types
Diabetic neuropathy is typically divided into four categories depending on which nerves are affected.
Peripheral neuropathy
Nerve damage that impacts the ability of the peripheral nerves to sense things, such as temperature and touch.
Peripheral neuropathy most commonly affects the arms, hands, legs, Continue reading

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Do Statins Cause Diabetes?

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Millions of Americans suffer from high cholesterol and/or diabetes. High cholesterol and lipids lead to arteriosclerosis, which could cause heart attacks and stroke. High blood sugars in those suffering from diabetes increase arteriosclerosis as well, catapulting the risk of heart disease if one suffers from both conditions.
Statins, [such as simvastatin (Zocor), atorvastatin (Lipitor)] have been found to significantly lower LDL, or “bad cholesterol”. They gained huge popularity in the 90’s and 00’s and at one time were suggested to be used in diabetics without high cholesterol due to their cardio-protective nature.
Unfortunately studies began to suggest that statin medications may increase one’s risk of diabetes.
This week a study from Australia found an increase risk in diabetes in older women who took statins.
Now, many individuals with high cholesterol eventually develop diabetes, either through their eating habits, or the body’s inability to control rising blood levels of each. Sometimes high cholesterol precedes diabetes by a decade or more.
This study, however, looked at 8300 women born between 1921-1926 enrolled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. They were free of diabetes in 2003 (averaging approximately 80 years old) and were followed for 10 years. Half of these women filled prescriptions for statins and of these 5% started filling medications for new onset diabetes. According to Medical News Today: Statistical analysis revealed that statin exposure was linked to a 33 percent higher risk of developing dia Continue reading

Diabetes and Heart Disease in Women

Dr. Rodriguez-Oquendo’s area of expertise is endocrinology.
Cardiovascular risk can occur earlier in women with diabetes
Among both men and women, diabetes is one of the strongest cardiovascular risk factors. Epidemiological studies have shown that people with diabetes have more than two times the chance of getting cardiovascular disease than people without diabetes. This includes premenopausal women, a group normally at lower risk for cardiovascular disease.
“Men generally have heart disease in their 40’s and 50’s, about a decade before women. But this is generally not true for diabetic women,” says Dr. Annabelle Rodriguez-Oquendo, Associate Professor of Medicine and Diabetes Management Service Director at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. “For diabetic women, the cardiovascular risk occurs earlier. Diabetes takes away much of the protection premenopausal women would normally get from estrogen.”
How diabetes raises risk for heart disease
The concentration of blood glucose or blood sugar, and how much it sticks to red blood cells and impedes the flow of oxygen in the blood, plays a large role in cardiovascular risk. An important measurement of sugar in the blood over a three-month period is the hemoglobin A1C test.
Hemoglobin is just one of the proteins that transport oxygen in the blood. Diabetes is a disease that impacts large blood vessels (such as the coronary arteries) and small vessels (such as arteries that carry blood to nerve endings and kidneys). Diabetes can affect the cardiovascular system by:
Attaching glucose to (glycosylating) blood proteins Continue reading

Lower Blood Sugar Naturally to Prevent High Blood Sugar from Leading to Diabetes

If you have high blood sugar, it doesn't mean you will get diabetes, but it is a big red flag warning you that it's probable if you don't make some lifestyle changes. We all know someone, or have had someone in the family, who is diabetic, and have heard about the insulin shots, poor circulation and feet problems that come along with it, so it's well understood that prediabetes is a condition to take seriously. Fortunately, the Beyond Diet program has proven to be an effective way to lower blood sugar naturally.
In case you aren't familiar with the term "prediabetes," also known as impaired glucose tolerance, it means that your blood sugar is higher than normal. It's not a disease in itself, but a condition that indicates that the onset of diabetes is likely, and the internal damage to your heart and other organs associated with diabetes could already be starting. Sorry for the heavy note, but it's important to understand, and the good news is that we are right here with the solution.
A Blood Sugar Diet Is Not What You Think
You know that natural ways to lower blood sugar are going to include the basics of self care, but if you are resistant to managing your diet and exercising, we understand! It can be hard to get motivated to exercise after a day of work, and you've probably suffered through unpleasant diets in vain attempts at losing weight in the past. After all, who hasn't? And to make matters worse, after the dreaded diet finally comes to an end, the pounds creep right back on, often without even having the courtesy to wait a month or two before showing themselves aga Continue reading

Diabetes Mellitus Treatment

In patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM), the therapeutic focus is on preventing complications caused by hyperglycemia. In the United States, 57.9% of patients with diabetes have one or more diabetes-related complications and 14.3% have three or more.[1] Strict control of glycemia within the established recommended values is the primary method for reducing the development and progression of many complications associated with microvascular effects of diabetes (eg, retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy), while aggressive treatment of dyslipidemia and hypertension further decreases the cardiovascular complications associated macrovascular effects.[2-4] See the chapter on diabetes: Macro- and microvascular effects.
Glycemic Control
Two primary techniques are available to assess a patient's glycemic control: Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and interval measurement of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).
Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose
Use of SMBG is an effective method to evaluate short-term glycemic control. It helps patients and physicians assess the effects of food, medications, stress, and activity on blood glucose levels. For patients with type 1 DM or insulin-dependent type 2 DM, clinical trials have demonstrated that SMBG plays a role in effective glycemic control because it helps to refine and adjust insulin doses by monitoring for and preventing asymptomatic hypoglycemia as well as preprandial and postprandial hyperglycemia.[2,5-7]
The frequency of SMBG depends on the type of medical therapy, risk for hypoglycemia, and need for short-term adjustment of therapy. Continue reading