Apart from tight
blood glucose control, no other treatments have been shown to retard the progression of diabetic
peripheral neuropathy (
DPN). Therefore, identifying potential risk factors for
DPN is important, particularly if they are modifiable. The Eurodiab baseline
DPN study found a prevalence of 28% for
DPN, with
glycemic control and duration of diabetes being major determinants. It was also observed that a substantial proportion of those with good
glucose control (
hemoglobin A(1c) < 7%) were found to have
DPN, which raised the possibility that other risk factors may be involved. Having excluded those with
DPN at baseline, researchers followed 1172 type 1 diabetic subjects for 7.3 years (SD, 0.6) looking for risk factors for the development of
DPN.
DPN developed in 23.5% over the follow-up period; and apart from
glycemic control and duration of diabetes, known to be important risk factors for
DPN, traditional markers of macrovascular disease (eg,
hypertension, smoking,
obesity, and
triglycerides) were found to be independent risk factors. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and suggested that a need exists for clinical trials to confirm if modifying cardiovascular risk factors is an effective treatment for
DPN.