Although diabetic neuropathy can occur in patients who have had diabetes for a short time, it is most likely to affect those who have been diabetic for more than a decade, especially those over age 40. Diabetics who smoke are especially at risk. The human nervous system is enormously complex. The peripheral nerves carry information to and from the brain, connecting it with the rest of the body. These nerves can be motor, sensory, or autonomic.
Motor nerves carry messages from the brain for the contraction of different muscles.
Sensory nerves relay to the brain sensations of touch, temperature, position and pain, from the body's periphery. The longer the nerve fibers, the more likely they are to show damage from long-term high blood glucose. For peripheral neuropathy, the damage commonly manifests at the nerve terminals of feet, lower legs, and hands. Doctors call this common form distal sensory polyneuropathy. As neuropathy progresses, the symptoms frequently change.