#1

My father recently developed diabetes and, very rapidly, has begun experiencing foot issues—welts, edema, and nerve pain—which have affected his mobility. He’s been quite active for his age and is now cutting back on sugar. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any promising treatments that might reverse his neuropathy. I’m hopeful that in the future there will be effective therapies. Has anyone come across prospective treatments or ideas for reversing nerve damage in diabetic patients?

Even a future treatment that might help would be encouraging, so long as it gives something to look forward to. Have any of you seen encouraging results with treatments like VEGF, nerve growth factors, or other regenerative approaches in similar cases?

#2

Unfortunately, most advice is based on modified diet (blood sugar control) and exercise to reduce the causes and then medication to help sleep and to reduce pain.

Alpha-lipoic acid supplementation has some efficacy and B12 and magnesium may be recommended if your dad is deficient.

Good luck!

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#3

I heard a yt video by Dr. Richard Bernstein about nerves slowly regrowing in his patients after doing his blood sugar control regimen for months or years. His basic idea is that you have to have normal blood sugars for the body to begin to recover.

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#4

My brother is in the same camp and perhaps too far gone for help. If he is not on a GLP-1 peptide he should talk with his doctor (so many impacts on overall health, this should be the first step). Secondly, research is being conducted on ARA290 and C-peptide. Both might be worth looking into, but very pricey possible treatments(unless you look into grey market).

Also, OTC, B1 deficiency is also a problem for diabetics and can cause neuropathy. Vitamin B1 - Benfotiamine is something to research and try upfront.

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#5

I use:

After about 18 months, I have noticed a modest improvement which I hope will continue.

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#6

I should have mentioned that I pulse both of these by taking daily M-F and skip them on the weekend.

#7

There is some evidence for quercetin.

Preclinical studies indicate that quercetin mitigates neuropathic pain, sensory deficits, and nerve damage associated with diabetic neuropathy by improving neuronal function, reducing DNA damage, regulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, enhancing antioxidant enzyme levels and endothelial function, as well as restoring nerve injuries.

In rats,

Quercetin exhibited neuroprotective effects on both DPN rats and RSC96 cells exposed to high-glucose. A six-week administration of quercetin at both doses significantly improved the peripheral neurological functions and alleviated the pathological changes in sciatic nerve of DPN rats (P <0.05). Mechanistically, quercetin markedly upregulated the expressions of axonal growth factors, Slit-2 and Netrin-1 in vivo and in vitro (P <0.05), while inhibiting the aberrant activation of Rho/ROCK signaling pathway in the sciatic nerve of DPN rats.

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