Diabetic Neuropathy & Essential Fatty Acids

This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C.
Send all comments or additions to:   Frankp@chiro.org

If there are terms in these articles you don't understand, you can get a definition from the Merriam Webster Medical Dictionary.   If you want information about a specific disease, you can access the Merck Manual.   Search Pub Med for more abstracts on this topic.

   Treatment of Diabetic Neuropathy with Gamma-linolenic Acid. The Gamma-Linolenic Acid Multicenter Trial Group
Diabetes Care 1993 (Jan);   16 (1):   8–15
We entered 111 patients with mild diabetic neuropathy from seven centers into a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel study of GLA at a dose of 480 mg/day. MNCV, SNAP, CMAP, hot and cold thresholds, sensation, tendon reflexes, and muscle strength were assessed by standard tests in upper and lower limbs.


   Long-term Effects of Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) on Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy and Serum Lipids in Patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus
Journal of Diabetes and its Complications 1996;   10 (5):   280–287
The results of this study suggest that EPA-E has significant beneficial effects on diabetic neuropathy and serum lipids as well as other diabetic complications such as nephropathy and macroangiopathy.


   The Use of Gamma-linolenic Acid in Diabetic Neuropathy
          Agents Actions Suppl 1992;   37:   120–44
EF4 is an entirely new approach to the management of diabetic neuropathy. EF4 (providing gamma-linolenic acid or gamolenic acid, GLA) has been shown to reverse existing diabetic neuropathy in trials in seven centres. Diabetic animals and humans have a reduced ability to convert dietary linoleic acid to GLA.


   Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acid Deficiency and Visual Loss in Infant Rhesus Monkeys
J Clin Invest 1984 (Jan);   73 (1):   272–6
These results suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may be an essential nutrient, and that 22:6 omega 3 may have a specific function in the photoreceptor membranes of the retina.

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Since 1-01-1998

Updated 7-17-2007