Diabetic neuropathy (damage to the nerves) comes in different versions.
It is frequently permanent when it occurs, but it
can be treated and the symptoms controlled in most cases.
There are several different types of damage that may affect the nervous system of a person with
diabetes.
Note:
The following list does not
include a common complication of diabetes called a "stroke" (cerebrovascular accident),
and another called a "TIA" (transient ischemic attack),
both of which are due
to damage to the blood supply to a part of the brain. Strokes and TIA's are usually classified as being
different from the nerve damage problems discussed here, although they, too, may result in nerve
damage in people with diabetes.
- Diabetic distal
symmetric sensory polyneuropathy may
result in total anesthesia (loss of feeling) in the feet.
More information about painful diabetic foot pain can be found at Diabetes and Foot Pain
- Autonomic neuropathy
The autonomic nervous system controls automatic functions of the body, and neuropathy might cause
damage to any of the following parts of the ANS:
- Heart
- Gut, including diabetic diarrhea, and stomach malfunction, called "diabetic gastroparesis."
- Blood pressure
- Sweating
- Bladder control
- Sexual functioning, including erectile dysfunction (Viagra may help) and retrograde ejaculation.
- Mononeuropathy is, by definition, damage to a single nerve.
One common version of mononeuropathy can affect a single nerve leading to the muscles of one eye,
thereby causing double vision (diplopia) when looking
in certain directions. This is called an "extraocular muscle palsy." When it happens, physicians
will have to check carefully to be sure the problem is not due to some other cause.
Although diabetic EOM palsies are extremely frustrating, they will resolve gradually over
a period of months without any specific treatment.
Also see
Complications: Neuropathy
(this is a listing of webpages about neuropathy
at the
DiabetesMonitor)
Diabetes and Foot Pain
at the
DiabetesMonitor
Neuropathy And Nerve Damage
From the American Diabetes Association
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