What is the precise cause of gait imbalance in diabetic nerve damage?!
Question:
What is the precise cause of gait imbalance in diabetic nerve damage?
Answers:
"Diabetic nerve damage" = Diabetic Neuropathy.
A neuropathy is disease and malfunction of individual nerves, nerve trunks & plexuses. There are multiple causes of this but diabetes in particular is one of the most common.
Assuming the gait imbalance, termed gait ataxia, is soley due to a diabetic peripheral neuropathy here is the answer:
The spinal cord, cerebellum, extrapyramidal and motor cortex systems of the Central Nervous System coordinate afferent or sensory data coming from the trunk, head, neck and limbs such that efferent or motor impulses result in coordinated movement.
Any neuropathy involving the peripheral nerves of the lower extremities or cauda equina (the nerve fibers coming off the end or "tail" of the spinal cord) results in the parts of the brain mentioned above receiving inconsistent, discontinuous and/or erroneous data about proprioception (spatial position), touch and pressure.
The resultant efferent or motor impulses send to a myriad of nerve tracts, plexuses, muscle groups of the head/neck/trunk/pelvic girdle/hips and individual muscles of the lower extremities are at the very least not coordinated. Associated muscular weakness(es) will exaggerate the resultant locomotion or gait of the individual such that they stagger, fall, trip etc.
Therefore, persons afflicted with peripheral neuropathy have very uncoordinated gait. Once a diabetic neuropathy develops it is very difficult to treat and in most instances will not be reversible.
I hope this answers your question.