Vitamin D helps relieve pain among diabetic patients with neuropathy

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Vitamin D helps relieve pain among diabetic patients with neuropathy

 

A research letter published in the April 14, 2008 issue of the American

Medical Association journal Archives of Internal Medicine reported that

vitamin D supplementation reduced pain levels in patients with diabetic

neuropathy. The condition occurs when high levels of glucose damage the

nerves, and can include burning, tingling, numbness, and throbbing

sensations.

 

Drs Paul Lee and Roger Chen of the Concord Repatriation General Hospital

in New South Wales, Australia enrolled 51 type 2 diabetics with

neuropathy for the study. Pain severity was rated via two questionnaires

and serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels were

measured at the beginning and end of the treatment period. All

participants were found to have insufficient levels of vitamin D at less

than 24 nanograms per cubic milliliter at the study's onset, and were

given a mean dose of 2,059 IU of the vitamin for three months. Continue

Reading [search at lef.org]

 

Neuropathy

 

In all forms of neuropathy, there is abnormal stimulation of nerves or

damage that results in pain. Peripheral nerves are sensitive conduits

that carry impulses from the extremities back to the central nervous

system (i.e., the spinal cord and brain). Impulses are transmitted along

nerves by changes in the electrical charge of the cell membrane caused

by movement of ions such as sodium, potassium, and calcium. Impulses are

transmitted between nerves by neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine

and substance P, which is responsible for transmitting pain impulses.

For protection, most nerves are covered with a thin sheath called

myelin, which is made from choline and lipids. The myelin functions like

the rubber wrapping around an electrical cord: it insulates the nerve

fibers and prevents abnormal transmissions.

 

Depending on the nature of the specific neuropathy, some part of this

system breaks down. In diabetic neuropathy, for example, there is a

change in the microvascular network that supplies the nerve with

nutrients. This lack of blood supply and nutrients causes the nerve to

function abnormally. Diabetic neuropathy tends to occur in more than one

nerve area (this condition is called polyneuropathy) and may cause loss

of sensation and pain that typically worsens at night. In severe cases,

diabetics can suffer from a kind of neuropathy called autonomic

neuropathy. In this case, the autonomic nervous system, which controls

automatic body functions, is affected with possibly serious

consequences, including gastrointestinal problems, bladder-emptying

problems, abnormal heart rhythms, and even sudden death (El-Atat FA et

al 2004). Continue Reading [search at lef.org]