Sunday, June 04, 2006
No More Nerve Damage
| A new drug reverses nerve damage in diabetics. |
| By Eva Gladek |
| May 26, 2006 | Biology & Medicine |
It could be the first treatment for a terrifying problem faced by people with diabetes – the nerve damage that's a leading cause of amputations. A new drug being tested in people with diabetic nerve damage uses a patient's own genes to treat them.
Diabetic neuropathy nerve damage, which causes a loss of sensation in the hands and feet, can allow small injuries to go unnoticed and become severely infected, to the point where amputation is the only option. Tight control of blood sugar can keep neuropathy at bay, but there is no cure.
"There are a variety of medications that are available now that can help with the pain but unfortunately, there's nothing available to help with numbness or prevention of nerve damage," says diabetes specialist Mark Kipnes, MD, director of the Diabetes and Glandular Disease Research Clinic in San Antonio, Texas.
