Carpal tunnel may be sign of impending diabetes

In more cases than would normally be expected, people who develop type 2 diabetes have a history of carpal tunnel syndrome. The wrist nerve problem sometimes predates the onset of diabetes by up to 10 years, according to a UK study.

Led by Dr. Martin C. Gulliford, a team at King's College in London examined medical records for 644,495 patients in England and Wales. They identified 2647 patients diagnosed with diabetes between November 2003 and October 2004, and selected a comparison group of 5,294 "control" subjects matched for age, gender, and location.

Medical records for up to 10 years before diabetes was diagnosed were reviewed for the first occurrences of carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, according to their report in the medical journal Diabetes Care, the researchers identified subjects diagnosed with Bell's facial palsy, a nerve disorder causing temporary paralysis of facial muscles.

Results showed that, after accounting for other risk factors, the pre-diabetes group was 36 percent more likely to have had carpal tunnel syndrome in the past than the control group.

Similarly, Bell's facial palsy occurred more often in the pre-diabetes group than in the control, but this turned out to be not significant from a statistical standpoint.

Gulliford and his team suggest that high blood sugar levels "and associated metabolic abnormalities may contribute to causing these important focal peripheral nerve disorders before the diagnosis of diabetes."

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, August 2006.