Texas Medical Center Scientist Examines Type 2 Diabetics’ Hand Dexterity

Bionics: March 25, 2014

While most clinicians and scientists focus on harm to the lower extremities in type 2 diabetics, researchers at the University of Houston Department of Health and Human Performance are concerned with impairment in dexterity and sensory function in the hands. “It’s a very basic concept that no one’s looked at before,” said Stacey Gorniak, assistant professor and researcher at the Texas Medical Center. “No one has examined what it is like if a patient living with type 2 diabetes touches an object compared to someone who’s healthy.”

Nine percent of the Texan population is impacted bytype 2 diabetes, which is sometimes accompanied by diabetic neuropathy, a nerve disorder that presents with numbness, pain, and tingling. Gorniak wondered whether diabetics experience neuropathy in their hands in addition to their feet and if the condition changes how they interact with the world. “Is it different? It really is,” said Gorniak. “We’re not just seeing the traditional diabetic issues with the feet and the legs, but we’re actually seeing effects to the hands. We found changes to the central nervous system that are not correlated with disease duration or disease severity, but simply due to the presence of the disease.” Read More