 Hello everybody, I am Dr. Saurabh Sadekar, Consultant Neurologist, Malti Manipal Hospital, Jaya Nagar Bangalore. It feels very nice to be a part of this Diabetic Awareness Program initiated by our hospital. For a common man with no medical background, Diabetes means sugar and sugar levels only. But very few people are aware of the neurological complications that can be caused by the sugar levels in our body. One of them is Diabetic Neuropathy, which happens as a complication of diabetes. Today I would like to elaborate on Diabetic Neuropathy. It is a problem related to the nerves of our body, especially nerves of the legs and nerves of the hands. There are so many diabetic patients in India, so do all of them develop Neuropathy? It is said that by 5 years of developing Diabetes, the chances of getting Neuropathy are around 10%. But this proportion increases to roughly 50% by 20 to 25 years of having Diabetes and uncontrolled sugar levels. So it means that nearly half of the people who develop Diabetes will ultimately go on to develop Neuropathy. This happens so because the chances of survival for a diabetic patient are roughly as good as a normal population that is around 70 to 80 years. Hence for a diabetic patient it is very important to know about Neuropathy, what are its symptoms, when to visit a neurologist and what are the diagnostic as well as treatment options for Neuropathy. This problem usually starts in the soles of the feet and the toes in the form of pain, burning sensation, tingling or numbness or a certain feeling of discomfort that happens in the legs. Initially the symptoms might be mild but it can go on to become more severe if medical attention is not sought immediately. It can progress towards the ankles and also it can go on to involve the calf and the entire lower limb. Walking will increase these symptoms, walking ability as well as wearing footwear comfortably will get more and more difficult as the time passes by. The most common reason for getting medical attention late is the misconception that it is a common symptom, it is happening because of age, it is happening because of tiredness or it is happening because of arthritis but this is not true. Similar symptoms can happen in upper limbs as well and they can go on to affect the day-to-day work of the patient. There are several research articles, there are several reports which show that a patient who is having diabetes for only 10 years but his sugar levels were well controlled throughout this period of 10 years, he has still gone on to develop symptoms of Neuropathy and that too in some cases very severe Neuropathy. A simple test called as the nerve conduction test is available in our setup. It can be done to check the functioning of the nerves of the hands and legs. Along with this test, a detailed neurological physical examination would be done as well. Early reporting and early diagnosis can lead to an early initiation of treatment which can provide a better relief of the symptoms, prevent the nerves from getting further damaged and can overall improve the quality of life of a diabetic patient.