2026 Lecture Programme

Abstract: South Africa has the fourth highest number of people living with diabetes mellitus in sub-Saharan Africa, and the prevalence is growing. In his presentation, Peter Kamerman will talk about the most common neurological complication of diabetes, distal symmetrical polyneuropathy. This condition affects the ability of about half of the people with diabetes to feel sensations, particularly in the feet, which can have devastating consequences. Moreover, about thirty to fifty percent of those affected also develop intractable neuropathic (nerve) pain, but we do not know who will develop pain, how much pain they will experience, and how they will respond to treatment.