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Laser light not much good for diabetic nerve pain
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nerve damage in the legs and feet caused
by diabetes can give rise to severe pain, which is often difficult
to treat. There has been some evidence that the condition can be
eased by shining low-intensity laser light on the affected area,
but the results of a new clinical study are discouraging.
Canadian investigators report "a trend to improvement"
with low-intensity laser therapy (abbreviated to LILT), but after
four weeks of treatment there were no clinical differences compared
to treatment with a sham laser.
Because painful diabetic neuropathy is often not improved with
medication, Dr. Vera Bril and colleagues explain in the medical
journal Diabetes Care, they evaluated the application of LILT as
an additional or alternative therapy.
The researchers at Toronto General Hospital recruited 50 people
with diabetes who reported pain intensities in both feet of 4 or
higher on an 11-point scale. The participants' medications remained
unchanged for at least 4 weeks before and throughout the study.
Twice-weekly treatment was administered to two painful areas on
each foot for five minutes. First, all participants were given sham
treatment for two weeks, then laser treatment was randomly assigned
to 25 patients while the other 25 continued on the sham treatment.
Both groups reported a decrease in average weekly pain scores after
the two weeks of sham therapy. After six weeks, there was no further
change in pain scores in the sham group and only a small drop in
the active treatment group. The difference in pain scores between
groups was not significant, statistically.
Also, there were no significant changes in measurable factors such
as nerve conduction, skin responses to stimulus, and sensory tests.
However, the change in pain scores from before the study started
to the end of laser treatment were "clinically meaningful,"
the authors write, so "the observed trend warrants further
investigation."
And because longer duration or more frequent laser treatment could
perhaps produce greater benefit, they advocate the development of
home laser equipment as a more convenient option for patients.
Diabetes Care 2004;27:921-924.
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