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Paper I - Obesity Related Neuropathy
Paper I - Obesity Related Neuropathy
and sural sensory amplitude, and subtle prevalence of scrotal cancer (an other-
symptoms and signs based on validated wise rare condition) among chimney
scales. sweeps described by Potts suggested
These results support the hypothesis that soot as a causal factor.12 Although
obesity is a neuropathy risk factor independent many patients with neuropathy are not
of diabetes or prediabetes and that central obese, the same can be said of diabetes.
obesity in particular increases the risk. Other Because axonal injury is a final common
metabolic syndrome components, particularly pathway of many disease processes,
systolic blood pressure and serum triglyceride demonstrating specificity in neuropathy
level, were also associated with neuropathy casual inference is challenging.
risk. As the authors point out, there is vari- 4. Temporality. Exposure to the putative
ability among studies regarding the relative causative agent must precede the
importance of metabolic syndrome compo- disease.
nents other than diabetes and obesity. Partic- 5. Biological gradient. Hill proposed that
ipants with prediabetes did not have an causal factors should exhibit a dose-
increased neuropathy risk relative to normo- response effect, although most causal
glycemic obese individuals (7.1% vs 12.1%), factors are influenced by other variables,
although their risk was higher than normo- and thus a simple dose-response curve is
glycemic lean controls (2.2%). uncommon. The data suggesting that
This article adds to a growing literature obese patients without neuropathy
supporting a risk relationship between have subtle neuropathy features support
obesity and neuropathy. However, whether the presence of other risk determinants.
obesity causes neuropathy or is merely a risk One can view the relationship with neu-
factor is an open question. Causal inference ropathy and prediabetes in this context.
is the process by which a potential causal When viewed through the lens of bio-
relationship exists between an exposure and logical gradient, the risk relationship be-
a disease. In 1965, Bradford Hill proposed 9 tween milder degrees of hyperglycemia
measures by which causality can be and neuropathy supports the view that
assessed.11 The Hill criteria are the primary neuropathy in prediabetic patients exists
framework used by epidemiologists to assess along a biological gradient from
causal inference. Applying these criteria to impaired fasting glucose to impaired
the article by Callaghan et al9 and the liter- glucose tolerance and diabetes (an indis-
ature it joins is informative: putable cause of neuropathy).
6-7. Biological plausibility and coherence. A
1. Strength of association. In the modern plausible biological mechanism and
era, statistical significance is viewed as coherence in the data from multiple
the measure of strength, but effect size sources and studies increase the likeli-
is clearly relevant. Obese participants hood of causality. The current study
had over 9 times the risk for neuropa- does not address the biological plausibil-
thy than lean individuals. Those with ity of obesity as a cause of neuropathy,
normoglycemia were 6 times more but the metabolic and inflammatory
likely to have neuropathy. These com- consequences of obesity share much in
parisons are sizable as well as statisti- common with those observed with dia-
cally significant. betes, and the known substantial biolog-
2. Consistency. This study adds to a list of ical impact of obesity on multiple
others indicating that obesity is related systems supports it as a causal contrib-
to neuropathy risk. utor.13 The availability of animal models
3. Specificity. Hill proposed that the more of nondiabetic obesity that develop neu-
specific the relationship, the more likely ropathy further support biological plau-
it was to be causal. For instance, the sibility of obesity as a causal factor.14
n n
1308 Mayo Clin Proc. July 2020;95(7):1306-1309 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.05.017
www.mayoclinicproceedings.org
EDITORIAL
14. Groover AL, Ryals JM, Guilford BL, Wilson NM, 16. Singleton JR, Marcus RL, Lessard MK, Jackson JE, Smith AG. Su-
Christianson JA, Wright DE. Exercise-mediated improvements pervised exercise improves cutaneous reinnervation capacity in
in painful neuropathy associated with prediabetes in mice. metabolic syndrome patients. Ann Neurol. 2015;77(1):146-153.
Pain. 2013;154(12):2658-2667. 17. Yoo M, D’Silva LJ, Martin K, et al. Pilot study of exercise therapy
15. Smith AG, Russell J, Feldman EL, et al. Lifestyle intervention for on painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Pain Med. 2015;
pre-diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes Care. 2006;29(6):1294-1299. 16(8):1482-1489.