[Farhad (OP)]

Hiya Every1!

It has been ages since i last visited the Naked Scientist and hope that everyone is enjoying their stay in here.

I am doing a research on Peripheral Neuropathy and I am finding it hard to answer one of the questions that I have got for my research, i would be gratful if any of you can direct me to a book or a reliable website where I can get some information from.

The question is:
Q: Explain why having high blood glucose can result in nerve damage and what are the mechanisms that result in this type of nerve damage?

Thnx[]

Life is too short to make enemies, so make friends.

[bezoar]

I just researched this for a case I reviewed.  My understanding of it, and Chris can correct it if I'm wrong, is that there are two levels of neuropathy.  One is a demyelinating type, that blocks or slows conduction, and the other is a axonal type, that causes a decrease in the number of nerves in the nerve fiber.  Diabetes is a mixed neuropathy.  Then of course, these can be acute or chronic, hereditary, inflammatory, temporaary or permanent, etc.
     The exact mechanism that causes the damage to the nerve is largely unknown.  I reads something that theorizes it has to do with the fluctuations in blood sugar causing a leeching of Calcium at the synaptic junctions, that is replaced with sugar or insulin.  Each time Calcium is lost, there is less effective conduction of impulses.  I'm not sure, however, why the Calcium couldn't be replaced with proper control of serum glucose, and the neuropathy of diabetes isn't reversible, to my knowledge.