I found the suggestion that ALA imporved neuropathy in Dr Gaynor's book "Cancer Prevention Program" and did a quick search on google. There are lots of links on the subject.
I have not checked to see if the reasons for the neuropathy are the same in chemo, and so if the treatment can be expected to work. and have no idea if there is any potential mechanism link between diabetes and the effects of chemo on BC / the body.
Here's one.
RB
http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2003-rst/1733.html
ABSTRACT
Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Monday, April 07, 2003
Antioxidant Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) Significantly Improves Symptoms of Diabetic Neuropathy
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A collaborative study between Mayo Clinic and a medical center in Russia found that alpha lipoic acid (ALA) significantly and rapidly reduces the frequency and severity of symptoms of the most common kind of diabetic neuropathy. Symptoms decreased include burning and sharply cutting pain, prickling sensations and numbness.
The findings appear in the March 2003 issue of Diabetes Care,
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/.
"There appears to be a rather large effect on the pain of diabetic neuropathy with ALA," says Peter Dyck, M.D., Mayo Clinic neurologist and peripheral nerve specialist. "The magnitude of the change is considerable. We also found some improvement in neurologic signs and nerve conduction. We were surprised by the magnitude and the rapidity of the response."
When patients were given ALA, also known as thioctic acid, the researchers found statistically significant improvement in the symptoms of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN) damage to multiple nerves caused by diabetes. The researchers measured improvement by a total symptom score, a summation of the presence, severity and duration of burning and sharply cutting pain, prickling sensations and numbness. The patients who took ALA saw a 5.7-point total symptom score improvement from the start of the trial, while those who took placebo, an inactive substance, only improved 1.8 points. ALA produced no unfavorable side effects in the patients taking this substance.
"It’s very safe," says Dr. Dyck. "There have been no known complications."
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