Clinical Study Title:
Evaluation of the efficacy of thiamine and pyridoxine in the treatment of symptomatic diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Plain English Summary:

Diabetic patients who exhibited signs of neuropathy were administered oral supplements of thiamine or pyridoxine. Their pain was rated on a continuum, and marked at the beginning of the study. Blood levels for the vitamins were also evaluated over the course of the study. Those patients taking the thiamine supplements reported a marked improvement over the other group in terms of pain and severity of symptoms. This suggests that thiamine deficiency may be related to the neuropathy, and that for those patients who have neuropathy, a thiamine supplement may prove beneficial.

Authors

Abbas ZG. Swai AB.

Institution

Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Country of Publication

Kenya

Source

East African Medical Journal. 74(12):803-8, 1997 Dec.