Alpha lipoic acid shows promise for diabetic neuropathy

Four years of treatment with alpha-lipoic acid for diabetic polyneuropathy yielded some clinically meaningful improvements, according to a recent report in Diabetes Care. The change in Neuropathy Impairment Score-Lower Limbs (NIS-LL) was significantly better with alpha-lipoic acid than placebo, as was the change in the muscular weakness subscore. The team had assigned 460 diabetic patients with mild-to-moderate polyneuropathy to receive oral alpha-lipoic acid 600 mg or matching placebo four times daily for four years. In conclusion, the researchers state that four-year treatment with alpha-lipoic acid in mild-to-moderate DSPN was well tolerated and was associated with improvement of neuropathic impairments but not nerve conduction attributes.