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© 1984 American Academy of Neurology The sweating deficiency in diabetes mellitusMethods of quantitation and clinical correlationFrom the Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. A method that measures the amount of sweat evaporating from the skin was used to quantitate the sweating deficiency that accompanies diabetic neuropathy. The decreased amount of sweat secreted after pilocarpine stimulation was proportional to the reduction in number of excitable sweat glands, and to the decrease in water measured by the summed volume of all sweat droplets secreted. The results also correlated favorably with the degree of sensory loss to painful stimuli, but not to the alpha motor nerve conduction velocity or motor axon loss evaluated by muscle action potentials evoked from foot muscles. Respiratory-cardiovascular reflexes, as measured by the Valsalva ratio, were always abnormal in patients with demonstrated sweating deficiency and often in patients with normal sweat function. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Kennedy, University of Minnesota Hospitals, Box 187, Mayo, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Supported in part by the American Diabetes Association (Minnesota Chapter), the Minnesota Medical Foundation, the General Clinical Research Centers Branch of the Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health (rR-0400), and the National Institutes of Health grant No. AM20516-01. Accepted for publication October 18, 1983.
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