Diabetes :: Cymbalta drug to manage diabetic pain

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Cymbalta, a drug for managing pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is associated with long standing diabetes or poor glucose control and is the most common complication of diabetes mellitus, affecting up to 62 percent of Americans with diabetes.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy can manifest in a variety of ways, but usually is characterized by burning, tingling, and numbing sensations in the feet and later affecting the legs or hands.

Patients treated with Cymbalta reported a greater decrease in pain compared to taking a placebo – 58 percent of patients treated with the drug reported at least a 30 percent sustained reduction in pain.

“With this new treatment we will hopefully be able to help relieve the pain associated with this terrible disease,” Dr. Lester M. Crawford, acting FDA commissioner, said in a statement.


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