Purpose of Review
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy eventually affects nearly 50% of adults with diabetes during their lifetime and is associated with substantial morbidity including pain, foot ulcers, ...and lower limb amputation. This review summarizes the epidemiology, risk factors, and management of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and related lower extremity complications.
Recent Findings
The prevalence of peripheral neuropathy is estimated to be between 6 and 51% among adults with diabetes depending on age, duration of diabetes, glucose control, and type 1 versus type 2 diabetes. The clinical manifestations are variable, ranging from asymptomatic to painful neuropathic symptoms. Because of the risk of foot ulcer (25%) and amputation associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, aggressive screening and treatment in the form of glycemic control, regular foot exams, and pain management are important. There is an emerging focus on lifestyle interventions including weight loss and physical activity as well.
Summary
The American Diabetes Association has issued multiple recommendation statements pertaining to diabetic neuropathies and the care of the diabetic foot. Given that approximately 50% of adults with diabetes will be affected by peripheral neuropathy in their lifetime, more diligent screening and management are important to reduce the complications and health care burden associated with the disease.
Diabetes has been identified as an important risk factor for mortality and rates of progression to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 ...(COVID-19). However, many recent reports on this topic reflect hurried approaches and have lacked careful epidemiologic design, conduct, and analysis. Features of prior studies have posed problems for our understanding of the true contribution of diabetes and other underlying comorbidities to prognosis in COVID-19. In this Perspective, we discuss some of the challenges of interpreting the current literature on diabetes and COVID-19 and discuss opportunities for future epidemiologic studies. We contend that the COVID-19 pandemic is a defining moment for the field of epidemiology and that diabetes epidemiology should play a significant role.
International trends in traditional diabetes complications (cardiovascular, renal, peripheral vascular, ophthalmic, hepatic or neurological diseases) and mortality rates are poorly characterised. An ...earlier review of studies published up to 2015 demonstrated that most data come from a dozen high-income countries (HICs) in North America, Europe or the Asia–Pacific region and that, in these countries at least, rates of acute glycaemic fluctuations needing medical attention and amputations, myocardial infarction and mortality were all declining over the period. Here, we provide an updated review of published literature on trends in type 2 diabetes complications and mortality in adults since 2015. We also discuss issues related to data collection, analysis and reporting that have influenced global trends in type 2 diabetes and its complications. We found that most data on trends in type 2 diabetes, its complications and mortality come from a small number of HICs with comprehensive surveillance systems, though at least some low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from Africa and Latin America are represented in this review. The published data suggest that HICs have experienced declines in cardiovascular complication rates and all-cause mortality in people with diabetes. In parallel, cardiovascular complications and mortality rates in people with diabetes have increased over time in LMICs. However, caution is warranted in interpreting trends from LMICs due to extremely sparse data or data that are not comparable across countries. We noted that approaches to case ascertainment and definitions of complications and mortality (numerators) and type 2 diabetes (the denominator) vary widely and influence the interpretation of international data. We offer four key recommendations to more rigorously document trends in rates of type 2 diabetes complications and mortality, over time and worldwide: (1) increasing investments in data collection systems; (2) standardising case definitions and approaches to ascertainment; (3) strengthening analytical capacity; and (4) developing and implementing structured guidelines for reporting of data.
Graphical abstract
Trends in the prevalence and control of diabetes defined by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels are important for health care policy and planning.
To update trends in the prevalence of diabetes, ...prediabetes, and glycemic control.
Cross-sectional.
NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) in 1988-1994 and 1999-2010.
Adults aged 20 years or older.
We used calibrated HbA1c levels to define undiagnosed diabetes (≥6.5%); prediabetes (5.7% to 6.4%); and, among persons with diagnosed diabetes, glycemic control (<7.0% or <8.0%). Trends in HbA1c categories were compared with fasting glucose levels (≥7.0 mmol/L ≥126 mg/dL and 5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L 100 to 125 mg/dL).
In 2010, approximately 21 million U.S. adults aged 20 years or older had total confirmed diabetes (self-reported diabetes or diagnostic levels for both fasting glucose and calibrated HbA1c). During 2 decades, the prevalence of total confirmed diabetes increased, but the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes remained fairly stable, reducing the proportion of total diabetes cases that are undiagnosed to 11% in 2005-2010. The prevalence of prediabetes was lower when defined by calibrated HbA1c levels than when defined by fasting glucose levels but has increased from 5.8% in 1988-1994 to 12.4% in 2005-2010 when defined by HbA1c levels. Glycemic control improved overall, but total diabetes prevalence was greater and diabetes was less controlled among non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans compared with non-Hispanic whites.
Cross-sectional design.
Over the past 2 decades, the prevalence of total diabetes has increased substantially. However, the proportion of undiagnosed diabetes cases decreased, suggesting improvements in screening and diagnosis. Among the growing number of persons with diagnosed diabetes, glycemic control improved but remains a challenge, particularly among non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans.
National Institutes of Health.
Abstract Purpose To assess the prevalence of erectile dysfunction and to quantify associations between putative risk factors and erectile dysfunction in the US adult male population. Methods ...Cross-sectional analysis of data from 2126 adult male participants in the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Erectile dysfunction assessed by a single question during a self-paced, computer-assisted self-interview. These data are nationally representative of the noninstitutionalized adult male population in the US. Results The overall prevalence of erectile dysfunction in men aged ≥20 years was 18.4% (95% confidence interval CI, 16.2-20.7), suggesting that erectile dysfunction affects 18 million men (95% CI, 16-20) in the US. The prevalence of erectile dysfunction was highly positively related to age but was also particularly high among men with one or more cardiovascular risk factors, men with hypertension, and men with a history of cardiovascular disease, even after age adjustment. Among men with diabetes, the crude prevalence of erectile dysfunction was 51.3% (95% CI, 41.9-60.7). In multivariable analyses, erectile dysfunction was significantly and independently associated with diabetes, lower attained education, and lack of physical activity. Conclusions The high prevalence of erectile dysfunction among men with diabetes and hypertension suggests that screening for erectile dysfunction in these patients may be warranted. Physical activity and other measures for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetes may prevent decrease in erectile function.
Fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are the standard measures for diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes. There has been recent interest in nontraditional markers of hyperglycemia, including ...fructosamine, glycated albumin, and 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG), as alternatives or adjuncts to standard measures. There is a growing literature linking these nontraditional markers with microvascular and macrovascular complications. Fructosamine and glycated albumin have also been shown to improve identification of persons with diabetes. However, long-term prospective studies with clinical outcomes are lacking. Some modern laboratory assays for fructosamine, glycated albumin, and 1,5-AG have excellent performance. Expanded use of these tests has the potential to improve diabetes care as these measures may overcome limitations of HbA1c in certain patients, complement traditional measures by providing additional information on shorter-term glycemic control, and improve risk stratification for diabetes and its complications. Nonetheless, studies are needed to demonstrate if their routine use will benefit patients and improve outcomes.
Background Frail individuals are at increased risk for poor outcomes, including adverse drug events. Kidney function is often compromised in frailty and is a key consideration in medication choice ...and dosing; however, creatinine-based measures of kidney function may be biased in frail individuals. Study Design Observational study. Setting & Participants 4,987 community-dwelling older men and women with complete data who participated in visit 5 of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study (2011-2013). Predictors Kidney measures included glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimated using serum creatinine (eGFRcr ) and serum cystatin C level (eGFRcys ) and urine albumin-creatinine ratio. Outcome Frailty, defined using established criteria of 3 or more frailty characteristics (weight loss, slowness, exhaustion, weakness, and low physical activity). Results 341 (7%) participants were classified as frail, 1,475 (30%) had eGFRcr < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 , 2,480 (50%) had eGFRcys < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 , and 1,006 (20%) had albuminuria with albumin excretion ≥ 30 mg/g. Among frail participants, prevalences of eGFRcr and eGFRcys < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 were 45% and 77%, respectively. Adjusted for covariates, frailty showed a moderate association with eGFRcr and a strong association with eGFRcys and albumin-creatinine ratio. Frail individuals with eGFRcr of 60 to <75 mL/min/1.73 m2 were frequently reclassified to lower eGFR categories using eGFRcys (49% to 45-<60, 32% to 30-<45, and 3% to <30 mL/min/1.73 m2 ). Hyperpolypharmacy (taking ≥10 classes of medications) was more common in frail individuals (54% vs 38% of nonfrail), including classes requiring kidney clearance (eg, digoxin) and associated with falls and subsequent complications (eg, hypnotic/sedatives and anticoagulants). Limitations Cross-sectional study design. Conclusions Frail individuals had a high prevalence of reduced kidney function, with large discrepancies when reduced kidney function was classified by eGFRcys versus eGFRcr . Given the substantial medication burden and uncertainty in chronic kidney disease classification, confirmation of kidney function with alternative biomarkers may be warranted to ensure careful prescribing practices in this vulnerable population.
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a leading cause of vision loss in persons with diabetes mellitus. Although there are national estimates for the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and its risk factors ...among persons with diabetes, to our knowledge, no comparable estimates are available for DME specifically.
To estimate the prevalence of DME in the US population and to identify associated risk factors.
A cross-sectional analysis of 1038 participants aged 40 years or older with diabetes and valid fundus photographs in the 2005 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The overall prevalence of DME and its prevalence according to age, race/ethnicity, and sex.
Of the 1038 persons with diabetes analyzed for this study, 55 had DME, for an overall weighted prevalence of 3.8% (95% CI, 2.7%-4.9%) or approximately 746, 000 persons in the US 2010 population aged 40 years or older. We identified no differences in the prevalence of DME by age or sex. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the odds of having DME were higher for non-Hispanic blacks than for non-Hispanic whites (odds ratio OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.19-5.84; P = .02). Elevated levels of glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.26-1.71 for each 1%; P < .001) and longer duration of diabetes (OR, 8.51; 95% CI, 3.70-19.54 for ≥ 10 vs <10 years; P < .001) were also associated with DME prevalence.
These results suggest a greater burden of DME among non-Hispanic blacks, individuals with high levels of hemoglobin A1c, and those with longer duration of diabetes. Given recent treatment advances in reducing vision loss and preserving vision in persons with DME, it is imperative that all persons with diabetes receive early screening; this recommendation is even more important for those at higher risk for DME.
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