A busy week at the clinic!
We
see our fair share of diabetic patients at the clinic most weeks.
Sometimes the patients we see are not so sure about just how diabetes
affects their feet or just how important it is to have regular foot
checks.
So we've put together a few points that
everyone should know about diabetes, in plain english so that everyone
reading it can understand.
The first thing to note is
that diabetes is generally split into two groups called type 1 and type 2
diabetes. Treatment guidelines have changed of late and many people who
would have been considered type 2 diabetic now use insulin as part of
their treatment plan.
Diabetes is a condition resulting
from either, the absence of insulin in the body to help break down and
use glucose from the blood, or having some insulin but having too little
or poor quality.
Diabetes can have serious
implications for your feet and legs. If you have poorly controlled blood
glucose particularly over a long period of time changes can happen to
the nerve and blood vessel tissues in your lower limbs. So what! you
might say.
Well, if the nerve tissue changes and
becomes less conductive, this is called peripheral neuropathy. Having
peripheral neuropathy increases the risk of injury. Because the feeling
can be absent in the foot injuries are common, although often the
sufferer is unaware of injury to the foot. The result of this can lead
to breakdown of the tissue, or as we call it, ulceration.
Ulceration
is complicated because of the hardening of the arteries which is also
caused by prolonged poor glucose control. Sufferers will lack the
ability to supply damaged tissue with a sufficient blood supply. This
prolongs healing, increasing the risk of infection and ultimately leads
to gangrene and amputation.
Now heres the scary
part...statistically, the mortality rate (chances of death related to
the disease) is greatly increased if an amputation has been required.
What we find is that, in general, because diabetes is a 'silent'
disease', often without any outward signs, people either dismiss it,
deny it, or just don't understand enough about it. It is that serious.
Diabetes, if poorly controlled or neglected for periods of time can
seriously impact on your foot health and ultimately lead to your
premature departure.
Finally, the best way that you can
prevent these changes happening for as long as possible is to maintain
good blood glucose levels. What we mean by that is your average blood
sugar levels. Daily readings will fluctuate, this is normal even in a
person who doesn't have diabetes. The average blood sugar is measured by
HbA1c. Because the recommended level can change sometimes there's
little point in writing it down here, but we would encourage all
patients we come across in the clinic to discuss their blood glucose
levels with the GP. Ask the GP for your HbA1c levels, learn about
getting it to the best levels you can, and finally, own your disease,
take control of it, don't allow diabetes to control you, or to destroy
your quality of life.
If you have diabetes and are
worried about your feet, or if you have any other questions about your
feet please contact the clinic to arrange your assessment today. We will
be happy to advise you and to carry out your diabetic foot check.
For more information about diabetes visit http://www.diabetes.org.uk/
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