Neurological Complications and Management in Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a systemic disorder, with the potential to affect multiple components of the nervous system, from the cerebral cortex to the skeletal muscle, directly due to hyperglycaemia and its resultant glycated end products, which can be toxic. Additionally, there is micro and macrovascular involvement, which can also affect parts of the nervous system. In this chapter, we look to enumerate most of the common and a few uncommon presentations of neurological involvement in diabetes mellitus. Awareness of these conditions would be beneficial for the clinician to be able to recognise the complications early and work to improve the quality of life of the patient. Some of these complications such as diabetic autonomic neuropathy can be non-specific and require a high degree of clinical suspicion. Some of the complications such as rhinocereberal mucormycosis and malignant otitis externa are potentially life-threatening if left untreated. Hence this knowledge becomes necessary for a clinician who treats diabetes mellitus.