Type 2 Diabetes Management

What Causes Diabetic Neuropathy?

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Lu Young RN

More than half of diabetics will have diabetic neuropathy eventually.

So, what causes diabetic neuropathy and can it be prevented?

The causes are probably different for different types of diabetic neuropathy. Researchers are studying how prolonged exposure to high blood glucose causes nerve damage. Nerve damage is likely due to a combination of factors:

• metabolic factors, such as high blood glucose, long duration of diabetes, abnormal blood fat levels, and possibly low levels of insulin
• neurovascular factors, leading to damage to the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to nerves
• autoimmune factors that cause inflammation in nerves
• mechanical injury to nerves, such as carpal tunnel syndrome
• inherited traits that increase susceptibility to nerve disease
• lifestyle factors, such as smoking or alcohol use

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Which of these causes can be changed or modified to reduce your risk of peripheral neuropathy?

Of all of the factors above, only two can be controlled – metabolic and lifestyle factors.

Metabolic factors – Tight control of blood glucose can cut your risk.  The second part of this – blood fat levels can be controlled to a degree.  Diet plays a factor in both of these.

If you have diabetes, your body cannot make or properly use insulin. This leads to high blood glucose, or sugar, levels in your blood. Healthy eating helps keep your blood sugar in your target range. It is a critical part of managing your diabetes, because controlling your blood sugar can prevent the complications of diabetes.

A registered dietitian can help make an eating plan just for you. It should take into account your weight, medicines, lifestyle, and other health problems you have.

Healthy diabetic eating includes

Limiting foods that are high in sugar
Eating smaller portions, spread out over the day
Being careful about when and how many carbohydrates you eat
Eating a variety of whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables every day
Eating less fat
Limiting your use of alcohol
Using less salt

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And now for the second part – lifestyle factors.

Quit smoking.  Smoking doubles your risk of diabetic neuropathy.

Check out this FREE quit smoking resource

And last part of lifestyle factors – alcohol.  It is better if you do not drink any alcohol at all.  Alcohol makes blood glucose very difficult to control.  So, to reduce your risk of diabetic neuropathy – don’t drink alcohol.

And now for a review – What causes diabetic neuropathy?

Mostly poor blood glucose.