The diabetic neuropathies: types, diagnosis and management.

Although over the years the considerable breakthroughs made in our understanding of diabetic neuropathy has come from both neurologists and diabetologists, in recent times (in the UK) it is diabetologists that have assumed the main clinical role in diagnosing and managing the most common neuropathy in the western world. It may therefore be that referral of patients with diabetic neuropathy from the diabetic clinic only occurs if there is a neurologist with a particular interest or if help is required regarding a specific issue such as an atypical clinical picture or pain control. This creates a risk that those training in neurology end up with a somewhat skewed view of the spectrum of diabetic neuropathies. The other situation where neurologists come across diabetic neuropathy is when the patient is found to have diabetes in the course of investigating a peripheral neuropathy.