A REVIEW ON DIABETIC NEUROPATHY AND NEPHROPATHY

Diabetes is a major public health problem. Diabetes mellitus now affects large number of people in many developing countries than western countries where only two or three percent of the population is affected. With on estimated 33 million people in India alone affected by diabetes. It is a major epidemic of the twentieth century. Diabetes is a chronic disorder, which is associated with obesity, hypertension, advancing age, accumulation of harmful agents in the vascular endothelium causing development of microangiopathies or micro vascular complications. These complications include peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy, which cause early death and increased morbidity. These complications vary in prevalence in different populations depending on various factors such as genetic predisposition and ethnicity. Besides these complications cardiovascular changes are also occurring. Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is characterized by pain, numbness, and tingling in the extremities with slow nerve conduction. Up to 50% of all patients with diabetes develop neuropathy and the prevalence of painful neuropathy ranges from 10 to 20% of patients with diabetes. Diabetic nephropathy is characterized by increased urinary protein, loss of renal function, excessive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins in the mesangium, and clear cytoplasm of the proximal tubular epithelial cells due to excessive reabsorbed glycogen. Evaluation of diabetes and its complications is very essential for proper control and prevention of the disease associated complications.