A new study found that carpal tunnel syndrome may be linked to adult onset diabetes. In this UK study diabetic patients were much more likely to have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome years before the diagnosis of diabetes. The study was published in the August issue of Diabetes Care.
Type 2 diabetes, or adult onset, is a condition that develops later in life as a response to poor blood sugar control. In adult onset diabetes the cells in the body slow their response to insulin, resulting in elevated blood sugar.
Long term elevation in blood sugar is thought to damage organs in the body, including the nerves and surrounding structures. A common complication of adult onset diabetes is peripheral neuropathy, which is characterized by decreased sensory perception, pain, and poor function/control.
In the study researchers examined past medical records for 2,647 diabetic patients and 5,294 healthy matched controls. After diagnosis of diabetes, health records were reviewed for the previous ten years to account for any diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.
They found that the diabetic group had a 36 percent higher likelihood of being diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in the decade prior to diabetes diagnosis than the non-diabetes group.
Another nerve condition, Bell's Palsy, which affects the face, was also higher in the diabetes group, but the difference was not statistically different.
The authors cannot definatively conclude that carpal tunnel results due to abnormal blood sugar metabolism, but in those with poor control, it may be a sign that diabetes is developing.
There are other factors that can contribute to carpal tunnel, but diabetes risk should not be ignored.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on September 22, 2006 11:01 AM
