Neuropad in the news

24 Jul 2024

The direct costs of diabetes in 2021/22 for the UK were estimated at £10.7 billion, of which just over 40% related to diagnosis and treatment, with the rest relating to the excess costs of complications. Indirect costs were estimated at £3.3 billion. A pragmatic review, commissioned by Diabetes UK and carried out by York Health Economics Consortium, shows that the NHS spends £10.7bn a year on diabetes, about 6% of the UK health budget.   The review of relevant data sources for UK nations includes population-level data sets and published literature, to...

15:28 / Blog
16 Apr 2024

Neuropad has been featured in an article in the Mail on Sunday Health Supplement, written by Martyn Halle and Jonathan Neal. A SIMPLE ten-minute DIY test can help spot the early signs of a potentially deadly foot problem that affects diabetics before symptoms strike. The tiny stick-on plaster is able to flag up if a patient is suffering from peripheral neuropathy, where the nerves in the legs and feet lose function and sensitivity. The condition hits half of people with diabetes and increases the risk that small cuts or blisters on the feet...

16:11 / Blog
23 Jan 2024

Delegates at an international diabetic neuropathy conference heard how a painless home test provides a valid and accurate check for diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN). A study presented at the recent NeuroDiab medical conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, shared the results of research into the effectiveness of Neuropad, a non-invasive home test that provides an early warning of diabetes related foot problems. Damage to the nerves in the feet due to diabetes can result in the sweat glands not producing enough moisture, leading to dry and cracked feet. Sudomotor dysfunction is one of the earliest indicators of...

12:10 / Blog
13 Oct 2023

Since 2013/14, there has been a growth in the volume and value of clinical negligence claims involving patients with diabetes-related lower limb complications. The majority of claims have involved patients with a diabetic foot ulcer who went on to undergo a major lower limb amputation. Major amputation is a life changing event for a person with diabetes, but the tragedy is all the greater if it could have been prevented. In such circumstances, at the very least, all possible lessons should be learnt from the circumstances surrounding such amputations and patient...

13:39 / Blog
04 Oct 2023

A recently presented study (in publication) at the NeuroDiab medical conference in Thessaloniki has again demonstrated that Neuropad is a valid and accurate test for the detection of diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN). This study shows that Neuropad has a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 78% and identical respective positive and negative predictive values for the detection of DAN. Major clinical manifestations of DAN include resting tachycardia, exercise intolerance, orthostatic hypotension, constipation, gastroparesis, erectile dysfunction, sudomotor dysfunction, impaired neurovascular function, ‘brittle diabetes’, and hypoglycaemic autonomic failure. DAN is therefore a serious...

12:51 / Uncategorized
26 Apr 2023

Diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN), an underdiagnosed diabetes complication, is defined as ‘an autonomic nervous system disorder that results from changes caused by diabetes or prediabetes, after exclusion of other possible causes.’ It is due to damage to the small unmyelinated type C nerve fibers, and the clinical picture may vary from subclinical to symptomatic states, requiring specific tests for diagnosis confirmation. Several risk factors have been shown to contribute to DAN development, including diabetes duration, poor glucose control, obesity, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, and microvascular complications. Gold-standard diagnostic tests for DAN,...

09:35 / Blog
29 Apr 2022

This new national guidance for care home operators and their staff has been created by an eminent panel of UK healthcare professionals led by Professor Alan Sinclair FRCP and including Professor Gerry Rayman FRCP who is a well-known and respected expert in diabetic foot disease and pioneer of the ‘Touch the Toes’ Test (TTT) for the detection of sensory neuropathy which is a complementary test to Neuropad. Read the guidance for care home operators. The new guidance includes in Appendix A (pages 14-16) a recommendation for care home staff to screen residents with diabetes at risk...

10:28 / Uncategorized
22 Apr 2022

Thousands of lives are being put at risk due to delays and disruption in diabetes care, according to a damning report that warns patients have been “pushed to the back of the queue” during the Covid-19 pandemic. There are 4.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK, and almost half had difficulties managing their condition last year, according to a survey of 10,000 patients by the charity Diabetes UK. More than 60% of them attributed this partly to a lack of access to healthcare, which can prevent serious illness and early...

09:04 / Uncategorized