21 August 2006

CTS and Type 2 Diabetes

Have you ever experienced having carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)? Most of the patients I encountered are women. Most are dentists and some do most of their jobs in front of computers, typing all day. There is a study recently linking CTS with type 2 diabetes:
In more cases than would normally be expected, people who develop type 2 diabetes have a history of carpal tunnel syndrome. The wrist nerve problem sometimes predates the onset of diabetes by up to 10 years, according to a UK study.

Results showed that, after accounting for other risk factors, the pre-diabetes group was 36 percent more likely to have had carpal tunnel syndrome in the past than the control group.

[SOURCE: REUTERS, 18 Aug 2006 ]

Bell's Palsy, another nerve fiber disorder, was also observed to have occurred frequently in the pre-diabetic group in the same study, but it's significance was not established statistically.

8 reactions:

Ann said...

Doc, my 6 yr old son's blood sugar count is 100. Is it normal?

Anonymous said...

Hello Doc! Glad to find doctors blogging here. I am a 3rd year medical student and I am hooked with the internet and blogging. My classmates say how can I do both at the same time? I just shrug my shoulders.

Dr. Emer said...

Hello, Ann. Is that fasting or a random reading? Please write me an email at doc[dot]emer[at]gmail[dot]com.

'Glad to meet you, Jam.

Anonymous said...

A 51-year old colleague of mine was sticken with Bell's Syndrome in January this year. He has recovered and is back to normal now. But I have to warn him about this link to Type 2 Diabetes. He needs to know. His mother was a chronic diabetic at the time of her death.

Anonymous said...

Sorry. I meant Bell's Palsy.

Anonymous said...

sometimes I feel this numbness on my wrist or at times, sharp pains. I always kid my husband that I probably have athritis.
Thanks for the heads up, doc!

Tani said...

my mom has carpal tunnel syndrome. i'll tell her about this study which links it to type 2 DM. she had GDM and we have a strong family history of diabetes.

Anonymous said...

Great to read this. I am a UK specialist physician, and I really agree with you. You might be interested to read my own blog at www.diabetesdietdoctor.com/blog.

Hope to see you there.

Tony Woolfson