You can berve have no feeling at all. About this Site. Admissions Requirements. Research Faculty. Clinical Trials. Other types of focal neuropathy are much less common.

Type diabetes nerve damage -

Over time, high blood glucose levels, also called blood sugar, and high levels of fats, such as triglycerides , in the blood from diabetes can damage your nerves. High blood glucose levels can also damage the small blood vessels that nourish your nerves with oxygen and nutrients. Without enough oxygen and nutrients, your nerves cannot function well.

Although different types of diabetic neuropathy can affect people who have diabetes, research suggests that up to one-half of people with diabetes have peripheral neuropathy.

The most common type of focal neuropathy is carpal tunnel syndrome , in which a nerve in your wrist is compressed. Although less than 10 percent of people with diabetes feel symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, about 25 percent of people with diabetes have some nerve compression at the wrist.

Your symptoms depend on which type of diabetic neuropathy you have. In peripheral neuropathy, some people may have a loss of sensation in their feet, while others may have burning or shooting pain in their lower legs. Most nerve damage develops over many years, and some people may not notice symptoms of mild nerve damage for a long time.

In some people, severe pain begins suddenly. Peripheral neuropathy can lead to foot complications , such as sores, ulcers, and infections, because nerve damage can make you lose feeling in your feet.

As a result, you may not notice that your shoes are causing a sore or that you have injured your feet. Nerve damage can also cause problems with balance and coordination, leading to falls and fractures. These problems may make it difficult for you to get around easily, causing you to lose some of your independence.

In some people with diabetes, nerve damage causes chronic pain, which can lead to anxiety and depression. Autonomic neuropathy can cause problems with how your organs work , including problems with your heart rate and blood pressure, digestion, urination , and ability to sense when you have low blood glucose.

To prevent diabetic neuropathy, it is important to manage your diabetes by managing your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

If you have diabetic neuropathy, you should manage your diabetes, which means managing your blood glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and weight to keep nerve damage from getting worse.

Check your feet for problems every day, and take good care of your feet. See your doctor for a neurological exam and a foot exam at least once a year—more often if you have foot problems. This content is provided as a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases NIDDK , part of the National Institutes of Health.

NIDDK translates and disseminates research findings to increase knowledge and understanding about health and disease among patients, health professionals, and the public.

Content produced by NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts. The NIDDK would like to thank: Rodica Pop-Busui, M. Home Health Information Diabetes Diabetes Overview Preventing Diabetes Problems Diabetic Neuropathy What Is Diabetic Neuropathy?

English English Español. Diabetic Neuropathy What Is Diabetic Neuropathy? Peripheral Neuropathy Autonomic Neuropathy Focal Neuropathies Proximal Neuropathy What Is Diabetic Neuropathy?

In this section: What are the different types of diabetic neuropathy? Type 1 diabetes happens when the body makes little or no insulin.

It usually is diagnosed in children, teens, or young adults. This disease often occurs in middle adulthood, but young adults, teens, and now even children are now being diagnosed with it linked to high obesity rates. In Type 2 diabetes, your fat, liver, and muscle cells do not respond to insulin appropriately.

Another type of diabetes is called gestational diabetes. It's when high blood sugar develops during pregnancy in a woman who had not had diabetes beforehand.

Gestational diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born. But, still pay attention. These women are at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes over the next 5 years without a change in lifestyle. If you doctor suspects you have diabetes, you will probably have a hemoglobin A1c test. This is an average of your blood sugar levels over 3 months.

You have pre-diabetes if your A1c is 5. Anything at 6. Type 2 diabetes is a wake up call to focus on diet and exercise to try to control your blood sugar and prevent problems. If you do not control your blood sugar, you could develop eye problems, have problems with sores and infections in your feet, have high blood pressure and cholesterol problems, and have kidney, heart, and problems with other essential organs.

People with Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day, usually injected under the skin using a needle. Some people may be able to use a pump that delivers insulin to their body all the time. People with Type 2 diabetes may be able to manage their blood sugar through diet and exercise.

But if not, they will need to take one or more drugs to lower their blood sugar levels. The good news is, people with any type of diabetes, who maintain good control over their blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure, have a lower risk of kidney disease, eye disease, nervous system problems, heart attack, and stroke, and can live, a long and healthy life.

Symptoms often develop slowly over many years. The types of symptoms you have depend on the nerves that are affected. Nerves in the feet and legs are most often affected.

Symptoms often start in the toes and feet, and include tingling or burning, or deep pain. Over time, nerve damage can also occur in the fingers and hands. As the damage gets worse, you may lose feeling in your toes, feet, and legs.

Your skin may become numb. Because of this, you may:. When the nerves that control digestion are affected, you may have trouble digesting food due to reduced movement of the stomach gastroparesis. This can make your diabetes harder to control.

Damage to nerves that control digestion almost always occurs in people with severe nerve damage in their feet and legs. Symptoms of digestion problems include:.

The health care provider will do a physical exam. The exam may find that you have the following:. Your provider should check to see if your blood vitamin B12 level is normal, as low levels can contribute to neuropathy symptoms.

To treat the symptoms of nerve damage , your provider may prescribe medicines to treat:. When you have nerve damage in your feet, the feeling in your feet can be reduced.

You can even have no feeling at all. As a result, your feet may not heal well if they are injured. Caring for your feet can prevent minor problems from becoming so serious that you end up in the hospital.

Many resources can help you understand more about diabetes. You can also learn ways to manage your diabetic nerve disease. Brownlee M, Aiello LP, Sun JK, et al. Complications of diabetes mellitus. In: Melmed S, Auchus RJ, Goldfine AB, Koenig RJ, Rosen CJ, eds. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology.

Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap ElSayed NA, Aleppo G, Aroda VR, et al. Retinopathy, neuropathy, and foot care: standards of care in diabetes Diabetes Care. PMID: pubmed.

Diabetic neuropathy is a Nfrve of nerve damage that can occur if you diabetss diabetes. High blood sugar glucose can injure nerves throughout Circadian rhythm sleep body. Diabetic nerfe Type diabetes nerve damage often damages nerves in the legs and feet. Depending on the affected nerves, diabetic neuropathy symptoms include pain and numbness in the legs, feet and hands. It can also cause problems with the digestive system, urinary tract, blood vessels and heart. Some people have mild symptoms. But for others, diabetic neuropathy can be quite painful and disabling. Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage that is caused by diabetes. Nerves disbetes bundles Obesity and cancer special tissues that carry signals between your Ty;e and other nefve of Potassium and water retention body. Dmage signals. Peripheral neuropathy Type diabetes nerve damage damwge damage that Type diabetes nerve damage affects the feet and legs and sometimes affects the hands and arms. Autonomic neuropathy is damage to nerves that control your internal organs. Autonomic neuropathy can lead to problems with your heart rate and blood pressure, digestive system, bladder, sex organs, sweat glands, eyes, and ability to sense hypoglycemia. Focal neuropathies are conditions in which you typically have damage to single nerves, most often in your hand, head, torso, and leg.