Green Tea Extract May Help Nerve Discomfort

Peripheral neuropathy is a painful condition that results from nerve damage caused by chronically high blood sugar and diabetes. According to a new study, supplementation with green tea extract may help improve pain caused by diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy.

Participants in the study included 194 participants with diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy. They were given a green tea extract or a placebo daily for 16 weeks. Symptoms of diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy were evaluated using the Toronto Clinical Scoring System at baseline, weeks 4, 8, and 16. Pain was assessed using the visual analog scale and neural disfunction was also evaluated.

By week 8, participants in the green tea group had significantly lower symptom scores and lower pain scores. They also had significant improvements in neural disfunction. By week 16, the improvements were even greater.

The study was conducted by researchers from Al-Azhar University. It was published online ahead of print on January 23, 2021, in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.