Although a connection between diabetes mellitus and peripheral nerve dysfunction has
been recognized for hundreds of years, it is only since Marchal de Calvi's observations in
186464 that neuropathy was accepted as a consequence rather than a cause of diabetes.
Peripheral neuropathies have been described in patients with primary (types 1 and 2) and
secondary diabetes of diverse causes, suggesting a common etiologic mechanism based on
chronic hyperglycemia. The undoubted contribution of hyperglycemia has received strong …