What is Diabetic Neuropathy? Diabetes makes your blood sugar level higher than normal. High blood sugar levels can damage the nerves in your body. When diabetes damages the nerves, it's called diabetic neuropathy. Neuropathy is one of the most common and troublesome complications of diabetes, and the number of people afflicted is likely to increase steadily as the incidence of diabetes in the developed world rises. Diabetic neuropathy makes your nerves less effective, so they can't carry messages to the brain and other parts of your body. Diabetic neuropathy can affect your ability to feel sensation in different parts of your body, especially your feet and toes.
Causes
How high sugar levels lead to nerve damage is a subject of intense research, but several factors are likely to contribute to the disorder:
Elevated blood sugar levels cause chemical changes in nerves. These changes impair the nerves' ability to transmit signals.
Elevated sugar levels also damages blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the nerves.
Researchers have focused on the effect that excessive blood sugar levels have on nitric oxide (NO) in nerves.
