- With Mayo Clinic endocrinologist
Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
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Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
Dr. Maria Collazo-Clavell is board certified in internal medicine, endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism. She is a consultant in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism & Nutrition at Mayo Clinic and an assistant professor at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
The Aibonito, Puerto Rico, native has been with Mayo Clinic since 1994.
She is a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American College of Endocrinology, the American Diabetes Association and The Endocrine Society.
Dr. Collazo-Clavell is medical editor for the Web site's diabetes content and the book "Mayo Clinic on Managing Diabetes." Her clinical interests include management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, obesity and nutritional disorders.
Risk factors (1)
- Diabetes: Does alcohol and tobacco use increase my risk?
Symptoms (1)
- The 'dawn phenomenon': What causes it?
Causes (1)
- Diabetes and depression: What's the link?
Complications (2)
- Diabetes: How does it affect my liver?
- Blood sugar and mood: Any connection?
Treatments and drugs (2)
- Diabetes management: Does aspirin therapy prevent heart problems?
- Byetta: Can diabetes drug also help me lose weight?
Lifestyle and home remedies (11)
- Vegetarian diet: Can it help me control my diabetes?
- Diabetes: Are electric blankets off-limits?
- Caffeine: Does it affect blood sugar?
- see all in Lifestyle and home remedies
Alternative medicine (1)
- Diabetes treatment: Can cinnamon lower blood sugar?
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Question
Diabetes: Are electric blankets off-limits?
Why are electric blankets discouraged for people who have diabetes? What's the danger?
Answer
from Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
Diabetes has many possible complications, including nerve damage (neuropathy). Over time, excess blood sugar can injure the walls of the tiny blood vessels (capillaries) that nourish the nerves. This can cause tingling or numbness that usually begins at the tips of the toes or fingers and over a period of months or years gradually spreads upward. Left untreated, it's possible to lose all sense of feeling in the affected limbs. If a person has any degree of nerve damage, he or she may not be able to sense if an electric blanket or heating pad is too hot — which can lead to inadvertent burns. The same issue applies to water temperature when bathing.
If you have diabetes and would like to use an electric blanket, warm up your bed with the blanket before bedtime — then turn the blanket off or remove it from the bed before you climb in.
Next questionCaffeine: Does it affect blood sugar?
- Diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage) and diabetes. American Diabetes Association. http://www.diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/diabetic-neuropathy.jsp. Accessed Oct. 2, 2008.
- Take charge of your diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/tcyd/foot.htm. Accessed Oct. 2, 2008.
