More than 400,000 people in the UAE, may be suffering from diabetic nerve pain, making it a leading and costly healthcare problem for the country, local doctors who are experts in pain management have warned.

The condition known as painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy is caused by damage to the nerves as a result of raised and uncontrolled blood glucose levels seen in diabetes. It presents as either a burning pain, numbness or tingling in one or more of the limbs and research has shown that it affects around 26 per cent of all those with type 2 diabetes, although not all patients report their symptoms.

With diabetes reported to affect up to one fifth of the UAE’s adult population which was estimated to have hit 8.19 million in May 2010, this means that right now around 1.6 million people in the UAE suffer from diabetes. Approximately 409,500 of these diabetic patients could be suffering from nerve pain and needing treatment.

“Diabetic nerve pain is a big problem for the UAE with around a quarter of patients who have diabetes at risk of the complication this means that hundreds of thousands of patients may be suffering pain as we speak. In my experience this number rises to 50 per cent in those who have had diabetes for more than 10 years. The pain can be very severe with some patients not even able to tolerate the weight of their bed sheets on their thighs,” warned Dr Mohamed Saada, consultant neurologist at Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi.   

“Pain associated with diabetic neuropathy varies in severity depending on the type of nerve damage caused. The pain can be localised to the feet or can spread up the legs to the knees and to the waist and trunk. It can involve one limb or all four limbs and sometimes there can be facial or back pain,” added Dr Saadah.

However, despite suffering severe pain many patients fail to seek medical help due to cultural conventions that frown on voicing concerns over pain. As a result only around 10 per cent of patients with painful diabetic neuropathy seek medical help, according to local pain management experts.

“The pain caused by diabetic neuropathy is a real problem, especially among the local population who fail to come forward for treatment due to social constraints, even when diabetic nerve pain is having a detrimental effect on their quality of life,” said Dr Ammar El Salti, consultant anaesthetist and pain management expert at Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi.  

“Chronic pain not only causes physical disabilities but can lead to sleep disturbances and mood disturbances, which in turn cause anxiety and depression, which affect people’s quality of life. Pain-sufferers also have to take time off work which costs the country’s economy millions of dollars,” added Dr Salti.-TradeArabia News Service