Prediabetes is a condition in which glucose (blood sugar) levels are above normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. It often leads to type 2 diabetes, but weight loss, exercise and diet can help prevent this escalation.

A common complication of diabetes is nerve disease (diabetic neuropathy), which has also been detected in some people with prediabetes. Neuropathy often causes pain, tingling, itching and numbness in the legs, arms and elsewhere.

Scientists at the University of Utah investigated whether exercise and diet could also treat prediabetic neuropathy. They followed 32 patients who received individual counseling on exercise and diet for a year. Skin biopsies were performed to reveal the number of nerve fibers.

The researchers found that the patients had decreased pain and increased function in their sensory nerves. The number of nerve fibers increased by about a third overall, though patients who had the greatest loss of nerve fibers in their limbs did not have an increase in fibers.

The researchers concluded that counseling on exercise and diet may regenerate nerves and reverse the earliest stage of prediabetic neuropathy.

The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, according to a recent press release.

Copyright 2000-2006 HealthCentersOnline Inc.