What is peripheral neuropathy and why should you care about it?
Peripheral neuropathy is literally nerve damage caused from elevated blood sugar levels.
Microcirculation to the fingers, feet, brain and genitals are affected - all blood circulation to the periphery outside of the vital organs. People with peripheral neuropathy experience tingling, pain, numbness, burning and strange sensations in their peripheral limbs.It's uncomfortable and can make mobility difficult. It changes your balance because you can't feel when your feet make contact with the ground. You don't connect with your footing. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is an early and significant complication in Type I and Type II diabetes and is associated with shorter life span, poor quality of life, ulcers that don't heal and amputations. It also correlates with higher cardiovascular risks.
What does this mean?
In rough numbers, teens with Type II diabetes have a higher incidence of diabetic-related peripheral neuropathy that exceeded other young people with Type I diabetes (insulin-dependent) and matched adults with Type II diabetes.
We do full workups on all of our teens to identify early diabetes so we can make lifestyle changes to prevent diabetic-related peripheral neuropathy.