A novel sensory nerve stimulator to improve neuropathy in patients with diabetes

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/385004

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

We have developed a painless, self-applied, cheap, battery powered electrical stimulation treatment that improves sensory nerve function in some people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. We have tested this technique in laboratory animals and in people with diabetes and have shown it is effective in some. We now propose to test this technique in a large sample of people similar to the participants in the successful group of our pilot study - 55-65 year old people with diabetes of shorter duration. In addition, older people up to 75 years of age, with up to 10 years duration of diabetes will be included separately. If successful, the electrical stimulation could improve sensation leading to fewer ulcerations and amputations. Much suffering and expense would be avoided. - The magnitude of reduction in suffering and expense can be judged from the fact that people with diabetes have 15 times the risk of amputation as do people without diabetes. In Australia half of non-traumatic amputations are done to people with diabetes. Foot ulcers precede amputations in most cases, and in themselves cause much suffering and expense. Australia needs to act on this now because, if current trends continue, the number of people with diabetes will increase as the population ages. -The number of people aged over 65 will increase from around 2.3 million at present to over 6 million in the next half century. The increase in those over 85 will be even more marked with numbers increasing four fold to over one million people. Diabetes affects approximately 23% of people aged 75 or older.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2006

End Date: 01-01-2008

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $407,924.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Diabetes | Diabetic peripheral neuropathy | Foot ulceration | Lower Extremity Amputation | diabetic peripheral neuropathy | nerve stimulation | neurogenic inflammation | skin

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