THE TREATMENT OF DIABETIC NEUROPATHY AND THE WAY TO LOWER ITS ECONOMIC BURDEN

Abstract

Many investigations, including ours, offer data about the economic burden of diabetic neuropathy. In Bulgaria the costs of this disease to the society are huge. In 2008, diabetic neuropathy was the eighth cause of hospitalization, imposing relatively high costs on our country. There is a strong connection between diabetic neuropathy and the following factors: patients’ age, duration of diabetes mellitus, the presence of micro-vascular changes and finally poor control of the blood glucose level. Data show difficulties in the diagnostics and treatment of neuropathy, this having a negative impact on the prognosis. From an organizational point of view, it is very important to apply screening techniques for the diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy. Considering the present financial situation of the Bulgarian health system, it is critically important that people with diabetes and their medical doctors collaborate in order to create a higher level of practice in the management of the disease. For this process to be effective, the patients have to be accepted as experts and equal members of the therapeutic team. Diabetic neuropathy is a heterogeneous disease with diverse clinical manifestations. It is one of the complications of diabetes that usually occurs in association with chronically elevated blood glucose levels that may damage the nerves, predominantly in the patients’ legs.