Gender differences in the associated complications among type-II diabetics with peripheral neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy is an intriguing problem both for the patient and the clinician, however the clinical characteristics of type-II (non insulin-dependent) diabetics with peripheral neuropathy with special reference to gender differences is not paid much attention. We studied peripheral neuropathy and related complications in 179 type-II diabetics. Peripheral neuropathy was noted in 46 of 111 men and in 46 of 68 women. The age group of subjects did not differ significantly. Duration of diabetes differed between the groups with (n = 46) and without (n = 65) peripheral neuropathy (expressed in years and as mean +/- S.E: 7.7 +/- 0.7 vs 5.5 +/- 0.7; t = 2.2; P less than 0.05) in men, whereas in women it was not significant. Higher proportion (62.5% of 24) of men with proteinuria had neuropathy. Similar findings in women were not different. We conclude i) a large percent (51.4%) of the type-II diabetics had peripheral neuropathy than realised ii) duration of diabetes and proteinuria are important risk factors associated with neuropathy especially in men and iii) the gender differences need further clinicopathologic evaluation.