| Disease | 22 PATIENTS WITH DISTAL DIABETIC POLYNEUROPATHY CONFIRMED BOTH CLINICALLY AND BY OBJECTIVE NERVE FUNCTION STUDIES, COMPLETED A DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY TO ASSES THE EFFECT OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION WITH GAMMA-LINOLENIC ACID ON
THEIR NEUROPATHY. PATIENTS RECEIVED EITHER 360 MG GAMMA-LINOLENIC ACID(12 PATIENT) OR INDISTINGUISHABLE PLACEBO CAPSULES(10 PATIENTS) FOR 6 MONTHS. ALL PATIENTS WERE ASSESSED AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE STUDY PERIOD BY NEUROPATHY SYMPTOM
AND SIGN SCORING, MOTOR AND SENSORY NERVE CONDUCTION STUDIES, AND THERMAL THRESHOLD MEASUREMENTS. WHEN COMPARED WITH THE PLACEBO GROUP, PATIENTS ON GAMMA-LINOLENIC ACID SHOWED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN NEUROPATHY SYMPTOMS SCORES
(P<0.001), MEDIAN NERVE MOTOR CONDUCTION VELOCITY (P<0.01) AND COMPOUND MUSCLE ACTION POTENTIAL AMPLITUDE (P<0.01), PERONEAL NERVE MOTOR CONDUCTION VELOCITY(P<0.05) AND COMPOUND MUSCLE ACTION POTENTIAL AMPLITUDE (P<0.05), MEDIAN (P<0.01) AND
SURAL(P<0.001) SENSORY NERVE ACITON POTENTIAL AMPLITUDE AND ANKLE HEAT THERSHOLD(P<0.001) AND COLD THRESHOLD(P<0.01) VALUES. GAMMA-LINOLENIC ACID THERAPY MITHT HAVE A USEFUL ROLE IN THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF DISTAL DIABETIC POLYNEUROPATHY.
A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT, EFAMOL, WAS USED. |