CHARLES Sturt University Orange physiology honours student Gabrielle Upton hopes to improve the lives of people with diabetes by countering the lack of research into the disease.
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The young Cudal woman is searching for 16 people with diabetic neuropathy, or damaged nerves, to participate in her study of the use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS).
While TENS is widely used to treat neuropathy, Miss Upton said there was no research that gave specific recommendations about which settings to use.
“There are guidelines that say that TENS is beneficial, but there is nothing that says which setting is best for people,” she said.
“I want to find one particular setting to help health practitioners with treatment. Say, I’m a physio and want to start TENS with a patient, I don’t know which setting to start on.”
Up to half of all diabetics will suffer from the painful side effect of the disease during their lifetime.
Two different types of TENS will be used during the study, which are safe, have minimal risk of adverse effects and are used for many different types of pain.
“The participants will have the opportunity to use a pain relief machine (TENS) for a total of 20 days with no cost to them,” Miss Upton said.
“Subjects will be required to attend four appointments at Charles Sturt University in Orange for about 30 minutes each time.
“During this time it is expected that the subjects’ level of pain will reduce.”
The study will begin on January 27.
Participants will use one TENS machine each day for 10 days, have a control period of seven days without using a machine, and then use the second machine for 10 days.
All diabetics aged over 18 who are interested in participating in the study can contact Miss Upton on 0427 106 498.
alexandra.king@fairfaxmedia.com.au
