“Why does my mother have diabetic neuropathy?”
My mother is on 3 insulins a day. She was recently diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy. She has severe pain and is unable to walk. Why is this happening?
2 Answers
Diabetes affects nerves all over one's body. Can contribute to blockage of arteries leading to stroke, can cause lack of blood flow to medium size arteries to the spinal cord leading to paralysis and/or numbness, and small vessel injuries to peripheral nerves causing numbness, weakness, pain, or loss of bladder/bowel control.
Nerves are living conduits of electrical impulses. Neuropathy means the nerves do not conduct the electrical signal well. The causes of neuropathy include metabolic diseases like diabetes. The treatment of the pain includes medications to decrease the abnormal firing of the impaired nerves like gabapentin. A low dose is better than a high dose because the side effects especially sedation are lower with a lower dose.
