A PILOT STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTATION ON DIABETIC PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY
INTRODUCTION
The incidence of diabetes mellitus is increasing at an alarming rate both nationally and worldwide. Diabetes is a major health concern and is associated with progressive chronic complications leading to premature mortality and high morbidity (1). Diabetic Neuropathy is the most common chronic complication of diabetes mellitus affecting up to 60 - 70%-of patients, with up to 50% of neuropathic patients experiencing painful symptoms (2). Symptoms range from mild tingling sensations to deep-seated lacinating or severe unremitting pain with night time exacerbations. Epidemiologic studies suggest that the prevalence of diabetic neuropathy
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In addition, diabetic neuropathy is known to have a profound impact on patients sleep, mood, daily activities and quality of life. Therefore, it is very important to establish a proper therapeutic option to prevent or decrease the incidence of diabetic neuropathy. At present there are many drugs used to treat Peripheral Diabetic Neuropathy, but many of these drugs has some side effects such as, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea and …show more content…
First, we did not measure serum Vitamin B12 concentration so we could not exclude the possibility of confounding effects by un¬measured Vitamin B12. Second, we did not perform nerve conduction study which evaluates the function of the motor and sensory nerves. Finally, we did not find a significant correlation of HbA1c or Mean plasma glucose with vitamin D, which can be attributed to the smaller sample size of our study.
In summary, our study suggested that patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy had a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and supplementation with vitamin D decreases the severity of neuropathy symptoms suggesting vitamin D as a potential therapeutic agent to treat or prevent diabetic neuropathy. Management of vitamin D deficiency could be a simple and cost-effective method to control and prevent the serious complications associated with diabetic