People with diabetes are prone to develop nerve damage that causes numbness, tingling or pain -- which may reduce awareness of skin damage and lead to serious infections and ulcers. Now, a new drug may improve this situation, Japanese researchers report. They found that fidarestat improves the perception of vibrations from a tuning fork, as well as symptoms, in patients with diabetes-related nerve damage, according to a report in the research journal Clinical Drug Investigation. Dr. Nigishi Hotta from Nagoya University School of Medicine Japan and colleagues used a tuning fork to examine the effects of fidarestat on the vibration perception threshold of the arms, hands, legs and feet of 22 affected patients. Fidarestat treatment for 24 weeks significantly improved the ability to feel the vibrations in all areas, the researchers report.
