Diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that can occur if you have diabetes. High blood sugar can injure nerve fibers throughout your body, but diabetic neuropathy most often damages nerves in your legs and feet.
Depending on the affected nerves, symptoms can range from pain and numbness in your extremities to problems with your digestive system, urinary tract, blood vessels and heart. For some people, these symptoms are mild; for others, they can be painful, disabling and even fatal.
Diabetic neuropathy is a common, serious complication of diabetes. Yet you can often prevent it or slow its progress with tight blood-sugar control and a healthy lifestyle.
Seek medical care if you notice a cut or sore on your foot that doesn't seern to be healing, is infected or is getting worse; burning, tingling, weakness or pain in your hands or feet that interferes with your daily routine or your sleep; dizziness; or changes in your digestion, urination or sexual function.
These symptoms don't always indicate nerve damage, but they may signal other problems that require medical care, in either case, early diagnosis and treatment offer the best chance for controlling symptoms and preventing more-severe problems.
— Source: Mayo Clinic
Good Neighbor Pharmacy Health Connection, May 2013
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