Yeah, I was idiopathic and don't have diabetes either.

Given that there are more than 100 different types of Neuropathy and at least as many causes it's not surprising that the term 'ideopathic' is used to define those neuropathies to which no specific cause can be attributed.

Sometimes it may be a case of too many co-existing conditions to pinpoint the specific cause, or maybe an undetected underlying condition. Depending on where you live, definitive diagnosis may be beyond the experience of the physicians. Equally, rationed resources under Public Health Systems, may mean that extensive testing is not offered and the ideopathic label is given as an easy explanation. Or it could just be plain laziness or incompetence of the doctor to seek answers.

Being given the ideopathic label is not the end of the line as many here have found out. You know your body and circumstances better than any one. If you take the ideopathic diagnosis as a starting point and do your own 'detective' work; eliminate any known possible causes, become informed, seek out medical professionals that are willing to work with you, then you may be able to manage this condition in the best way that works for you.

As far as I understand, the statistics in this research is based on 373 people who were referred to a specific peripheral neuropathy center with a previous diagnosis of idiopathic neuropathy. So it doesn’t necessarily represents the ratios in the general neuropathy patients population.

Maybe many people with diabetic neuropathy weren’t diagnosed as idiopathic in the first place, so they weren't reffered to this clinic or were left out of this research. Thats why only 25% there were found to haveimpaired glucose metabolism, and there were much mor eprediabetic then diabetic.