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Incredibly, 90 to 95% of diabetics in the United States have type 2 diabetes. In fact, Type 2 diabetes may affect as many as 20% of the senior U.S. population (ages 65 to 74 years). Approximately 5.4 million adults in the United States have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. Appropriate lifestyle changes can reverse or prevent type 2 diabetes.
Chiropractor in West Palm Beach: Acupuncture for Diabetic Neuropathy is about how acupuncture can help your pain and dysfunction.
What is Diabetes Mellitus?
Diabetes mellitus is a disorder that results in chronic hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) due to absence of insulin, decreases in insulin, and/or decreased sensitivity of insulin receptors (areas on the outer part of a cell that allow the cell to join or bind with insulin that is in the blood). Generally, Diabetes mellitus is evident in two forms: (1) type 1, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and (2) type 2, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Usually, type 1 diabetes becomes apparent in childhood or adolescence. And type 2 diabetes shows up later in life (over the age of 40).
Microvascular complications of diabetes are those long-term problematic changes to small blood vessels. Unfortunately, it can lead to various health problems such as: retinopathy (disease of retina of eye), nephropathy (kidney disease), and neuropathy (nerve damage disease).
Moreover, it is estimated that 40% of people in the United States are prediabetic according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, it appears long-term damage occurs in the pre-diabetic state (especially to the cardiovascular system) prior to the full development of diabetes.
PHYSIOLOGY regarding Diabetes Mellitus
Firstly, your Glycemic metabolism is controlled by the interaction of insulin (which has mainly a hypoglycemic/lowers sugar or glucose function) and hormones that are referred to as counterregulatory.
Secondly, these counterregulatory hormones include glucagon (hormone that your pancreas makes to help regulate your blood glucose), epinephrine/norepinephrine (chemical messengers also known as adrenaline, that play an important role in the body’s fight or flight response), cortisol (steroid hormone that is produced by your 2 adrenal glands, helps in immune response and metabolism), and growth hormone (secreted by pituitary and helps metabolism).
Thirdly, in general, these hormones act to stimulate glycogenolysis (happens in the liver and kidney to produce glucose for balancing the blood sugar) and gluconeogenesis (process in the liver when glucose is formed from non-carbohydrate sources).
Fourthly, Catecholamines (e.g. adrenaline) in particular, suppress insulin secretion and stimulate hepatic (liver) glucose production.
Fifthly, the hypoglycemic function of insulin is various. This includes promoting the uptake of glucose by mainly muscle and adipose tissue (fat), inhibiting the breakdown of glycogen (promotes glycogen/”glucose”stores), and inhibiting the production of other sources of energy such as from free fatty acids.
Symptoms of diabetes may include:
-increased urination and thirst
-loosing weight even if not trying to
-Diabetes can damage nerves and cause problems with the sense of touch
-Diabetes can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, chronic kidney disease, neuropathy and vision loss.
Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Risk Factors for Diabetes Mellitus
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake). Risk factors include:
- Family history: a parent, brother, or sister with type 1 diabetes.
- Age: While you can get type 1 diabetes at any age, it typically develops in children, teens, or young adults.
Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes
So Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes have similar risk factors. To start with, if you already have prediabetes, this is an added risk factor to develop type 2 diabetes. Additional risk factors are:
-Are overweight or obesity.
-Are age 45 or older.
-Your parent or sibling has type 2 diabetes.
-Are physically active less than 3 times a week.
-Have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
-You had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or given birth to a baby who weighed over 9 pounds.
-Are an African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian, or Alaska Native person. Some Pacific Islander people and Asian American people also have a higher risk.
How Does Acupuncture Help Diabetes Mellitus
Acupuncture’s anti-inflammatory effect has been observed in several studies. This includes those on asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, epicondylitis, complex regional pain syndrome type 1, and vasculitis. Furthermore, acupuncture treats diseases of the nervous system. For instance, it helps reduce the doses of dopaminergic medications in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, Acupuncture may relieve nerve dysfunction in the motor, non-motor, pre-motor, and autonomic nerves.
Indeed, acupuncture has been proven to be beneficial and effective for pain relief. For examples, such as for lower back pain, chronic tension-type headaches, and migraine prophylaxis. Furthermore, various studies have reported that acupuncture can effectively modulate hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes mellitus. Taken together, these results suggest that acupuncture could be considered as a viable natural treatment for diabetic neuropathy.
Research on Diabetic Neuropathy and Acupuncture?
With Diabetic Neuropathy, you will typically have low back pain along with burning pains in the lower extremities (limbs) and poor balance. Also, it can affect your arms and hands with numbness and pain. Indeed, neuropathy is a diabetes complication that causes nerve damage throughout your body. Hence, about half of all people with diabetes have some form of neuropathy. Furthermore, it is more common in those who have had diabetes for many years.
Manual Acupuncture versus Routine Care for Diabetic Neuropathy
Firstly, One study indicates that manual acupuncture is possibly more effective than routine care (stabilizing blood sugar, managing daily pain, and protecting vulnerable areas from injury) in relieving pain. And acupuncture may significantly improve nerve conduction velocity when compared to routine care. A nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test measures how quickly electrical impulses move through a nerve.
Secondly, A study looked at the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture as a treatment for diabetic polyneuropathic-related complaints. Patients with type II diabetes and symptoms of neuropathy in the lower limbs were included. A total of 12 acupuncture treatments were administered over 8 weeks. The study found Acupuncture leads to a significant and lasting reduction in diabetes related complaints. This is in comparison to routine care.
Thirdly, another study found acupuncture improves the motor and sensory nerves function in patients with diabetic polyneuropathy. In conclusion, acupuncture can be considered an appropriate safe and nonpharmacological complementary option for type 2 diabetic polyneuropathy.
Lastly, scientists discovered improvements in diabetic polyneuropathy pain symptoms improved sleep, fatigue, mood, function, and the ability to work.
Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Acupuncture for Diabetic Neuropathy
Acupuncture has been used for over 4000 years to treat pain and other health problems. Acupuncture effects what the ancient chinese practitioners called Meridians (energy channels) in your body under the skin. Traditional acupuncture is based on the belief that an energy, or “life force”, flows through the body in these channels called meridians.
Today, Researchers believe when an acupuncture needle is inserted, nerves are stimulated. This sends a message to your brain and nervous system. Ultimately, Acupuncture improves blood flow and calms the nervous system. This triggers nerve signaling that affects the function of other parts of the body, including organs.
Dr. Natalie Meiri is a chiropractic physician, board certified in acupuncture with over 20 years of experience. Call 561-253-8984 today! Ask to make an appointment or find out more about: Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Acupuncture for Diabetic Neuropathy.
References:
1) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm. Effect of Acupuncture on Diabetic Neuropathy: A Narrative Review
Eunwoo Cho 1, Woojin Kim 1,* Editor: Kazunori Sango1 PMCID: PMC8395323 PMID: 3444528 nih.gov/articles/PMC8395323/
2) Acupuncture for the treatment of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Chunliang Wang a, Yuzhu Fan b, Guiting Liang b, Qiang Wang a, Hui Gao a, Junhong Duan b 10.1016/j.ctcp.2024.101889