The potential for an association between vitamin D and a beneficial effect on neuropathy is based on experimental data which has shown that vitamin D3 can upregulate NGF and the products of its neuronal target genes resulting in an improvement in experimental diabetic neuropathy. Vitamin D insufficiency has recently been associated with retinopathy and self-reported peripheral neuropathy symptoms even after adjusting for demographic factors, obesity, comorbidities, use of medications for neuropathy and diabetes duration and glycemic control. Of course, there may be some overlap between the symptoms associated with vitamin D deficiency and diabetic neuropathy, which may partly explain the excess painful symptoms we have observed in Asians, particularly as the latter have excess vitamin D deficiency.