Our modern lifestyle has made diabetes a commonplace disease. Diabetes leaves the patient vulnerable to many other complications. Diabetic neuropathy is one such extremely dangerous complication. Neuropathy indicates damage to the nervous system, and that is due to, in this particular case, the elevated blood glucose level that occurs in diabetes.
In the war against diabetic neuropathy, information is the only way to vanquish it. What is diabetic neuropathy, what are its symptoms and how it can be controlled, those are the questions we’re going to answer here.
The autonomic nervous system is at the very core of our existence. It controls the vital life functions like heartbeat and respiration. The autonomic nervous system fails, the patient dies, that’s it. The peripheral nervous system controls the sensory and motor functions. This helps us to become aware of our environment and to control muscular activity. The peripheral nervous system fails, the patient becomes a vegetable. Diabetic neuropathy is categorized as autonomic and peripheral diabetic neuropathy, depending on which particular nervous system it affects. The third category, focal diabetic neuropathy, affects individual nerves, not a system.
The predominant symptoms of diabetic neuropathy are given here for your information.
The patient feels abnormally hot or cold, and sometimes both.
Loss of control over the bladder, with the patient experiencing sudden and strong urges to void the bladder.
Severe indigestion symptomized by flatulence, eructations, regurgitation, and vomiting.
The patient suffers from sexual disorders which prevent sexual functionality.
Disorders of the circulatory system, like poor circulation, heart fluttering, and heart seizures.
Loss of sensory functionality is a very dangerous side-effect of diabetic neuropathy. The patient’s very ability to know about his environment is gone. He won’t know whether he’s been cut on his foot, or whether a scorpion has stung him. This could lead to grievous physical harm and even more potentially life-threatening situations.
Diabetic neuropathy can be cured only when the underlying diabetes is cured. In the meanwhile, the patient can get relief from the problems associated with diabetic neuropathy in a number of ways.
The only way to control diabetic neuropathy is by ensuring that blood glucose remains within the prescribed norms, and this requires careful monitoring. Besides monitoring the blood glucose level, there are a number of medications which provide symptomatic relief of the problems experienced by the patient. The frazzled nerves generate pain signals which border on the intolerable. This can be alleviated by pain relievers. Blood chemistry modifiers are given to reduce the impact of the elevated blood glucose level. Normal sexual functionality can be restored by the topical application of creams and lubricants. Above all, the patient should realize the criticality of diabetic neuropathy, and should never attempt to self-medicate or do anything without his doctor’s knowledge and consent.