[Diabetic neuropathy]

Diabetic neuropathy is one of the major three diabetic complications, together with diabetic retinopathy and nephropathy. It develops early and with a high incidence after the onset of diabetes mellitus and influences the QOL and prognosis of patients with diabetes mellitus. Although the exact mechanism by which hyperglycemia causes nerve damage remains a subject of debate, metabolic and vascular disturbances due to hyperglycemia are assumed to cause nerve damage. The treatments of diabetic neuropathy aim at both the inhibition of its onset and progression (causative treatment) and the care for symptoms due to neuropathy such as pain(symptomatic treatment). In this paper, we describe the outlines of these two kinds of treatment for diabetic neuropathy.