Nizar Abdul Majeedkutty
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia
Title: Physical therapy management of diabetic peripheral neuropathy
Biography
Biography: Nizar Abdul Majeedkutty
Abstract
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is the most common complication of diabetes mellitus both in developed and developing countries. It is found in about 10% of diabetic patients at diagnosis and in the majority of patients of 25 years and more. Patients with pre-diabetes may also develop neuropathies that are similar to diabetic neuropathies. Loss of feeling in the lower limbs is a high risk for limb amputation. Extremely long axons originating in the small neuronal body are vulnerable on the most distal side as a result of mal-nutritional axonal support or environmental insults. Asians have a strong ethnic and genetic predisposition for diabetes and have lower thresholds for the environmental risk factors. As a result, they develop diabetes at a younger age and at a lower body mass index and waist circumference when compared with the Western population. The health care costs for the disease management are increasing although outcome is far from the optimum. As a result, complications of diabetes such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy and foot ulcers are common and the economic burden is very high, especially among the poor. Despite efforts to make an early diagnosis and to halt the progression of diabetic neuropathy, currently there is no effective treatment available at a global level, except for tight control of blood glucose. Non-pharmacological treatments like physical therapy can improve the overall quality of life of diabetes mellitus patients with peripheral neuropathy and alleviate them from the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. This workshop presents the recent advances regarding assessment and different treatment strategies used in physical therapy to manage diabetic peripheral neuropathy and presents evidence and conditions for its applications.