Diabetes.....what is the reason for pain in extremites in people with diabetes?

Question

I have a case study due in a couple of weeks in my anatomy class.....the lady in it has unexplained pain in both her feet....why is that? I thought there was just numbness, which shouldn't cause any pain??

Anybody out there who knows anything about this?

Answer 1

Here is a very good explanation of why diabetics have pain. As one side effect is the circulation, and can actually result in amputation of the extremities. It is called peripheral neuropathy.

http://www.webmd.com/solutions/diabetes_pain

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

This is an over simplification but nerve cells allow glucose in even without the proper amount and type of insulin being present. This is to protect the brain which consumes glucose as its only food source. When glucose enters nerve cells in a diabetic it is not metabolized properly leading to an influx of water. As the nerve swells it is damaged and may result in numbness or chronic pain. Again - this is a simplified version of a very complex problem.

Answer 4

You don't say how old this lady is but if she is elderly then she could have a combination of problems, Peripherial Artery Disease (which can cause pain) and Diabetic Neuropathy. If she is younger it could be both PAD and DN or just DN which is the dying off of the nerve endings which leads to the numbness. Good Luck.

Answer 5

I have Diabetes Insipidus and I get those feeling in my hands feet and extremities. You get that becuase your body doesn't have what it use too and now I'm getting hormone replacement but it will never replace what my body use to have before it was injured. Once the body gets injured it's never the same as it was before. Now because of an injury at work I have to take hormone replacement everyday because I hit my head on the ground and that damaged the master gland which is called the Pitutary. Look under Pitutary for your project or Diabetes Insipidus. If you need information that you can't locate go to the hospital and talk to them in the Diabetes dept and they can help you.

Answer 6

Its from poor circulation what shes feeling is the cells in her legs slowly dying off one by one. That why some diabetes patients have have amputations because the limb is esenually dead.

Answer 7

Nerve damage from poorly controlling the sugars. It is actually very common. It is called diabetic neuropathy.

Answer 8

poor circulation