sarnsrun/medquad huggingface dataset:
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: What are the symptoms of Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: Symptoms depend on the type of neuropathy and which nerves are affected. Some people with nerve damage have no symptoms at all. For others, the first symptom is often numbness, tingling, or pain in the feet. Symptoms are often minor at first, and because most nerve damage occurs over several years, mild cases may go unnoticed for a long time. Symptoms can involve the sensory, motor, and autonomicor involuntarynervous systems. In some people, mainly those with focal neuropathy, the onset of pain may be sudden and severe.
                
Symptoms of nerve damage may include
                
- numbness, tingling, or pain in the toes, feet, legs, hands, arms, and fingers  - wasting of the muscles of the feet or hands  - indigestion, nausea, or vomiting  - diarrhea or constipation  - dizziness or faintness due to a drop in blood pressure after standing or sitting up  - problems with urination  - erectile dysfunction in men or vaginal dryness in women  - weakness
                
Symptoms that are not due to neuropathy, but often accompany it, include weight loss and depression.
Source: NIDDK
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: What is (are) Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: Diabetic neuropathy can be classified as peripheral, autonomic, proximal, or focal. Each affects different parts of the body in various ways.
                
- Peripheral neuropathy, the most common type of diabetic neuropathy, causes pain or loss of feeling in the toes, feet, legs, hands, and arms.  - Autonomic neuropathy causes changes in digestion, bowel and bladder function, sexual response, and perspiration. It can also affect the nerves that serve the heart and control blood pressure, as well as nerves in the lungs and eyes. Autonomic neuropathy can also cause hypoglycemia unawareness, a condition in which people no longer experience the warning symptoms of low blood glucose levels.  - Proximal neuropathy causes pain in the thighs, hips, or buttocks and leads to weakness in the legs.  - Focal neuropathy results in the sudden weakness of one nerve or a group of nerves, causing muscle weakness or pain. Any nerve in the body can be affected.
                

                
Neuropathy Affects Nerves Throughout the Body  Peripheral neuropathy affects   - toes   - feet   - legs   - hands   - arms   Autonomic neuropathy affects   - heart and blood vessels   - digestive system   - urinary tract   - sex organs   - sweat glands   - eyes   - lungs   Proximal neuropathy affects   - thighs   - hips   - buttocks   - legs   Focal neuropathy affects   - eyes   - facial muscles   - ears   - pelvis and lower back   - chest   - abdomen   - thighs   - legs   - feet
Source: NIDDK
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: What is (are) Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: Peripheral neuropathy, also called distal symmetric neuropathy or sensorimotor neuropathy, is nerve damage in the arms and legs. Feet and legs are likely to be affected before hands and arms. Many people with diabetes have signs of neuropathy that a doctor could note but feel no symptoms themselves. Symptoms of peripheral neuropathy may include
                
- numbness or insensitivity to pain or temperature  - a tingling, burning, or prickling sensation  - sharp pains or cramps  - extreme sensitivity to touch, even light touch  - loss of balance and coordination
                
These symptoms are often worse at night.
                
Peripheral neuropathy may also cause muscle weakness and loss of reflexes, especially at the ankle, leading to changes in the way a person walks. Foot deformities, such as hammertoes and the collapse of the midfoot, may occur. Blisters and sores may appear on numb areas of the foot because pressure or injury goes unnoticed. If an infection occurs and is not treated promptly, the infection may spread to the bone, and the foot may then have to be amputated. Many amputations are preventable if minor problems are caught and treated in time.
Source: NIDDK
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: What is (are) Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: Proximal neuropathy, sometimes called lumbosacral plexus neuropathy, femoral neuropathy, or diabetic amyotrophy, starts with pain in the thighs, hips, buttocks, or legs, usually on one side of the body. This type of neuropathy is more common in those with type 2 diabetes and in older adults with diabetes. Proximal neuropathy causes weakness in the legs and the inability to go from a sitting to a standing position without help. Treatment for weakness or pain is usually needed. The length of the recovery period varies, depending on the type of nerve damage.
Source: NIDDK
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: What is (are) Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: Focal neuropathy appears suddenly and affects specific nerves, most often in the head, torso, or leg. Focal neuropathy may cause
                
- inability to focus the eye  - double vision  - aching behind one eye  - paralysis on one side of the face, called Bell's palsy  - severe pain in the lower back or pelvis  - pain in the front of a thigh  - pain in the chest, stomach, or side  - pain on the outside of the shin or inside of the foot  - chest or abdominal pain that is sometimes mistaken for heart disease, a heart attack, or appendicitis
                
Focal neuropathy is painful and unpredictable and occurs most often in older adults with diabetes. However, it tends to improve by itself over weeks or months and does not cause long-term damage.
                
People with diabetes also tend to develop nerve compressions, also called entrapment syndromes. One of the most common is carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes numbness and tingling of the hand and sometimes muscle weakness or pain. Other nerves susceptible to entrapment may cause pain on the outside of the shin or the inside of the foot.
Source: NIDDK
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: How to prevent Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: The best way to prevent neuropathy is to keep blood glucose levels as close to the normal range as possible. Maintaining safe blood glucose levels protects nerves throughout the body.
Source: NIDDK
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: How to diagnose Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: Doctors diagnose neuropathy on the basis of symptoms and a physical exam. During the exam, the doctor may check blood pressure, heart rate, muscle strength, reflexes, and sensitivity to position changes, vibration, temperature, or light touch.
                
Foot Exams
                
Experts recommend that people with diabetes have a comprehensive foot exam each year to check for peripheral neuropathy. People diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy need more frequent foot exams. A comprehensive foot exam assesses the skin, muscles, bones, circulation, and sensation of the feet. The doctor may assess protective sensation or feeling in the feet by touching them with a nylon monofilamentsimilar to a bristle on a hairbrushattached to a wand or by pricking them with a pin. People who cannot sense pressure from a pinprick or monofilament have lost protective sensation and are at risk for developing foot sores that may not heal properly. The doctor may also check temperature perception or use a tuning fork, which is more sensitive than touch pressure, to assess vibration perception.
                
Other Tests
                
The doctor may perform other tests as part of the diagnosis.
                
- Nerve conduction studies or electromyography are sometimes used to help determine the type and extent of nerve damage. Nerve conduction studies check the transmission of electrical current through a nerve. Electromyography shows how well muscles respond to electrical signals transmitted by nearby nerves. These tests are rarely needed to diagnose neuropathy.  - A check of heart rate variability shows how the heart responds to deep breathing and to changes in blood pressure and posture.  - Ultrasound uses sound waves to produce an image of internal organs. An ultrasound of the bladder and other parts of the urinary tract, for example, can be used to assess the structure of these organs and show whether the bladder empties completely after urination.
Source: NIDDK
Topic: Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes
Question: What to do for Diabetic Neuropathies: The Nerve Damage of Diabetes ?
Answer: - Diabetic neuropathies are nerve disorders caused by many of the abnormalities common to diabetes, such as high blood glucose.  - Neuropathy can affect nerves throughout the body, causing numbness and sometimes pain in the hands, arms, feet, or legs, and problems with the digestive tract, heart, sex organs, and other body systems.  - Treatment first involves bringing blood glucose levels within the normal range. Good blood glucose control may help prevent or delay the onset of further problems.  - Foot care is an important part of treatment. People with neuropathy need to inspect their feet daily for any injuries. Untreated injuries increase the risk of infected foot sores and amputation.  - Treatment also includes pain relief and other medications as needed, depending on the type of nerve damage.  - Smoking increases the risk of foot problems and amputation. A health care provider may be able to provide help with quitting.
Source: NIDDK