Diabetic neuropathy: its incidence and relationship to control - abstract

ABSTRACT

The reported incidence of diabetic neuropathy varies from as little as 5 percent to as high a 90 percent in some areas. It has also been stated that most diabetic patients develop neurological and angiopathic lesions 8-10 years after the onset of their disorder. We analysed 1,500 diabetic patients attending the Diabetic Clinic between 1961 and 1972 at the University Hospital of the West Indies. The results showed that the sex ratio was 2.81 females males and of the 1,500 patients examined 885 (59 percent) had symptoms suggestive of neuropathy. 568 (64.6 percent) of the patients were female and 297 (35.4 percent) were male. Thus there was a slightly higher incidence of neuropathy in the male than in the female diabetics. The relationship of neuropathy to the duration of the diabetes showed that 74.3 percent of the patients developed neuropathy within 10 years of the onset of diabetes and 12 percent presented with neuropathy. It is of interest to note that 62.8 percent of the male population of diabetic had impotence as an autonomic disorder, and that 5 percent of patients had bladder dysfunction. The complications of diabetic neuropathy leading to perforating ulcers and amputations are discussed. The relationship of diabetic neuropathy is presented (AU)