How diabetes is affecting your nerves and ways to prevent nerve damage

Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects your body’s ability to turn food into energy. The human body breaks down food into sugar (glucose) and releases it into the bloodstream. When the blood sugar surges, the pancreas releases insulin. Insulin helps blood sugar enter the body’s cells so it can be used as energy. However, with diabetes, the human body fails to make enough insulin or simply loses the ability to use it sufficiently.

This causes too much presence of blood sugar in the bloodstream because there is not enough insulin or cells are not responsive to insulin. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Atlas 2019, In India, 1 in 3 patients suffer from Diabetic Neuropathy. Diabetes happens due to insulin resistance, which is commonly caused by genetics, unhealthy diet, low physical activity, hypertension, and obesity.

Dr. Mohit Saran, Consultant - Internal Medicine And Diabetologist, Manipal Hospital Gurugram, says, “One aspect of diabetes is the occurrence of diabetic neuropathy, where nerves are damaged by reduced blood supply as well as high glucose levels. Over time if blood sugar is not controlled well, it affects the nerves, and this in turn leads to a chain of problems.”
When the nerves are damaged, they fail to send signals to different body parts, and it can lead to numbness and pain. These problems significantly disrupt the general ability to function in daily life.

The most important aspect of managing and preventing nerve damage in diabetes is to adopt simple yet effective measures such as blood pressure management. It is important for blood pressure to remain less than 140/90 mm Hg in order to maintain good health.