A case for the diagnosis of autonomic neuropathy in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Abstract

The autonomous nervous system consists of individual reflex arcs, each of which includes a receptor, afferent unit, central nervous system, efferent unit and effector organ. Autonomous control of each organ system is divided between oppositely acting sympathetic and parasympathetic innervations. Moreover, the fibers of the autonomic nervous system are distributed in the form of a web and are not widely available for the study of nerve conduction. Although double innervation, compound reflex arcs, and the anatomical abundance of nerve fibers made research difficult, the autonomic nervous system has been well studied in the last 10 years. Based on these studies, a classification of diabetic autonomic neuropathy has been developed.