Posts Tagged ‘effects of diabetes’

Footcare for Diabetics – a stitch in time…

Diabetes can cause a variety of problems in the feet making diabetic footcare essential. The effects of peripheral neuropathy can cause loss of feeling in the feet (sensory neuropathy), weakness and pain in the muscles of the legs and feet (motor neuropathy), and overall problems with the skin’s sweat glands, leading to dry, cracked skin (autonomic neuropathy).

Combined with other effects of diabetes, including poor blood circulation and decreased immune system response, these symptoms can lead to severe foot problems if the diabetic is not careful to take proper care of their feet. Skin ulcers, cracked skin and fungal infections can be very hard to treat for a diabetic, and may not heal properly without extensive medical care. In long term cases, improper foot support can cause bone displacement as well, and in severe cases of poor circulation, amputation of the toes may become necessary. Prevention is definitely your best option in diabetic foot care.

Diabetic foot care starts with controlling blood sugar levels, which decreases the severity of all of the aforementioned symptoms. But because diabetic foot problems are hard to completely avoid, there are many options for proper diabetic foot care that will minimize pain and injury.

Using diabetic foot cream and toenail oil can help counteract the effects of autonomic neuropathy and resulting dry skin. When skin becomes dry and cracked, fungal infections and slow healing skin become a major problem.

Massage, both by hand and with foot rollers, can prevent diabetic foot problems caused by poor circulation and muscle weakness. Special supportive socks are also an important part of treating diabetic circulation problems in the feet.

Diabetics should never use over-the-counter wart or callous removal treatments. These products are too strong and can damage the skin on a diabetic’s feet. If you have these problems, talk to your doctor about appropriate diabetic foot care products.

Making sure to wear proper shoes and socks designed to prevent diabetic foot problems will help a great deal in preventing pressure ulcers, fungal infections and bone problems. Insoles with proper foot support, shoes with good air circulation, and socks to help support proper blood circulation are all very important tools in preventing serious foot injury in the diabetic.

See also:
Choosing Diabetic Shoes
Diabetic Socks

Follow this link for more on footcare for diabetics at DMOZ.

Ketone Testing Saves Lives

Survey discoveries published today by Abbott and ‘Children with Diabetes’, CWD, prove that higher than 33% of parents of children with type-1 diabetes don’t know about an at home blood ketone test which may help to prevent the onset or indicence of Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), often referred to as diabetic coma. DKA is a sometimes fatal complaint and is the leading reason for death of youngsters with diabetes mellitus.

Ketones are substances created in the blood when fat is converted for energy because insulin levels are too low. Significant insulin drops and elevated blood ketone levels can lead to DKA. Regular testing for ketones during times of sickness, when the chance of ketones is usually higher, is required to recognise and stop DKA in children with type one diabetes, who generate not enough, or no insulin.

Statistics from the report, carried out by the non-profit group Children with Diabetes (CWD) working alongside Abbott Diabetes Care, established that greater than 30% of guardians test the ketone levels of their children less than three times a month The majority of mothers and fathers stated that they test for ketones more often when the child is sick, but 30 percent are in ignorance of the fact that testing blood ketones may be done quite simply in their own home using a meter. Additional results illustrated that 75% of mothers and fathers of children with diabetes mellitus are still using the older urine ketone test procedure with a slower outcome. In addition, 40% of participants surveyed said that their youngsters had taken many days of school as a result of diabetes-related sickness.

Recent Advice from the St Johns Ambulance Brigade on how to recognise and deal with diabetes problems:

Eating provides your body with fuel to give enough energy to derive pleasure from an active life. Normal folk produce insulin to convert blood sugar into energy. For diabetics, the body does not put out sufficient insulin, and glucose increases instead of turning into energy.

People with diabetes need to be meticulous with diet and exercise and may have to take insulin at regular intervals to master their disorder.

Sometimes a sufferer from diabetes can get into a medical crisis due to the presence of too much insulin. This dangerous event occurs when the blood sugar level has fallen to dangerous low levels. This condition can be life threatening and is often the result of by injecting too much insulin, not eating regularly or or excessive exercise..

How to spot insulin shock

* The heart rate and breathing are shallow and rapid.
* The patient’s skin is sweaty, colorless and the temperature is low.
* The person is perturbed, irritable or confrontational.
* The patient might seem drunk, shudder or experience difficulty speaking.

Emergency first aid for insulin shock
The right medical procedures in a insulin shock crisis just might save lives.

* Settle the sufferer and call the emergency services.
* Place an unconscious patient into the recovery position and keep a constant check on pulse and breathing.
* If the patient is fully conscious, and is able to tell you what they want, assist them to locate and administer their medication.
* If the person is too dazed to comprehend what is required, try to get them to injest something sweet, e.g. a soft drink high in sugar may help.

St. john ambulance has medical courses to assist you to to have the skills to save someone’s life. To discover more, see the office near to your area or browse the web page at www.sja.org.uk

For nearly half of her adult life, starting with her last pregnancy 40 years ago, Christine Miller has been a sufferer of Type-two diabetes. Because she did not need to take insulin, Miller was able to tackle her ailment with tablet based drugs.

However 3 years ago, at the age of 79, Miller hit another problem — cognitive decline. Her children took her to the health centre where she was diagnosed with Alzheimers.

Was there possibly something that connected Miller’s many years of diabetes and her mental deficiency?

Until quite recently, diabetes experts could have ignored such a link as irrelevant.

Now, it is one of the most important areas of study into alzheimers disease. It is also becoming an accepted view amongst some Alzheimer’s experts: Keep your blood sugar levels tightly controlled and you might minimise your risk of getting alzheimer’s.

The link has been showing up more and more, both in epidemic studies and medical trials that use diabetic drugs to treat individuals with dementia.

But the exact reason that increased sugar or uncontrolled insulin can cause significant brain cell death still is not totally appreciated.

Right now, most of the focus of Study into alzheimers disease is on beta-amyloid, the protein that rises in the brains of individuals with the condition.