Diabetic Neuropathy

Introduction

Diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that can occur if you have diabetes. High blood sugar can injure nerve fibres throughout your body, but diabetic neuropathy most often damages nerves in your legs and feet. Diabetic neuropathy is a common serious complication of diabetes. Yet you can often prevent diabetic neuropathy or slow its progress with tight blood sugar control and a healthy lifestyle.

Treatment

Good control of diabetes over time is the key to treating diabetic neuropathy. There is no cure for neuropathy, but keeping your blood sugar within a target range can reduce symptoms and prevent them from getting worse.To help control your diabetes, eat food that is good for you and exercise. Controlling diabetes means maintaining blood sugar levels (A1c) within the target range. This will do more than anything else to help prevent diabetic neuropathy from getting worse.

Statistics

It is thought that Russia may place as high as third in the register of countries with the highest number of diabetics in the world, with an estimated 9,613,000 cases. However, the disease is thought to be undiagnosed in as many as 55% of cases. The lack of management by undiagnosed patients is a major contributing factor to the number of amputations per year. The awareness of the danger of diabetic foot ulcers is simply not there.

Research

Blood glucose self-monitoring instruments are rather expensive and cannot be afforded by many patients. Today’s situation should be based on the Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia of 09 January 2007, No. 1, Moscow, “On approval of the List of articles of medical application ..., provided on doctor’s (doctor assistant’s) prescriptions as part of the additional free health care programme ...”, which lists insulin pens and pen needles, as well as test strips for blood glucose measurements, among the articles provided free of charge for patients, I. e. paid for from the Federal Budget, for children with a disability status at least.