Short ReportProfound weight loss in a type 2 diabetic patient with diabetic neuropathic cachexia: A case reportAmaigrissement majeur chez un diabétique de type 2 atteint de neuropathie cachectisante. Une observation
Introduction
Diabetic neuropathic cachexia (DNC), a rare form of peripheral neuropathy associated with impressive weight loss, was first described more than three decades ago by Ellenberg [1]. We report here on a typical case of DNC recently observed in Kuwait.
Section snippets
Case report
A 35-year-old morbidly obese man was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2006. At the time of diagnosis, his weight was 170 kg and his height was 1.83 m (Fig. 1). Soon after the diagnosis, he was prescribed oral antidiabetic drugs by his GP.
Over the following year, the patient lost weight extremely rapidly and unintentionally. He had decreased appetite and poor diabetes control. When his HbA1c level reached 11.9%, the patient was referred to the diabetes unit for hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic
Discussion
Profound weight loss associated with dramatic painful paraesthesia and autonomic neuropathy arising soon after a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, with no other microvascular diabetes-related complications and with total reversibility of all symptoms in one year, is typical of a diagnosis of DNC. DNC is predominantly seen in male patients with type 2 diabetes in their sixth decade and usually with no other specific complication of diabetes [1]. However, on rare occasions, cases have been reported
Conflicts of interest
None.
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