Diabetes is a common and increasingly prevalent illness. Reports show that in adults, diabetes accounts for about 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.
In diabetes, there’s a huge tendency that due to the high levels of sugar in the blood, this would lead to nerve damage called Diabetic Neuropathy.
Nerve damage or diabetic neuropathy is basically, a complication of diabetes that could be one of the most frustrating and debilitating disability, a diabetic would suffer.
What are the symptoms of Diabetic Neuropathy?
High blood sugar can injure nerve fibers throughout your body, but diabetic neuropathy most often damages nerves in your legs and feet.
Symptoms usually start in the toes and feet, having a tingling or burning, or deep aching pain. Over time, nerve damage can also occur in the fingers and hands. As the damage gets worse, you will likely lose feeling in your feet and legs, that usually leads to numbness.
- Feeling full after eating only a small amount of food
- Heartburn and bloating
- Nausea, constipation, or diarrhea
- Swallowing problems
- Throwing up undigested food a few hours after a meal
The worst would be that when nerves in your heart and blood vessels are damaged, you may:
- Feel light-headed when you stand up (orthostatic hypotension)
- Have a fast heart rate
- Not notice angina, the chest pain that warns of heart disease and heart attack
How can a diabetic person prevent diabetic neuropathy?
Knowing that you’re a diabetic, you should follow your health care provider’s advice on how to prevent or slow diabetic nerve damage. 
Control your blood sugar (glucose) level by:
- Eating healthy foods
- Getting regular exercise
- Checking your blood sugar as often as instructed and keeping a record of your numbers so that you know the types of foods and activities that affect your blood sugar level
- Taking medicine or insulin as instructed by your health care provider
To treat the symptoms of nerve damage, your health care provider may prescribe medicines to treat:
Image Credits: indswift, mcallenfootcenter, diabetesemedtv, emedpainmanagement, health
