Foot Care For People With Diabetes: Prevention Of Complications And Treatment

Foot care for people with diabetes: prevention of complications and treatment

This article for nurses on foot care for people with diabetes is the second in a series of five evidence reviews being written by Sarah Chapman for the British Journal of Community Nursing through 2017. It was published there in April.
The prevalence of diabetes, one of the most common chronic conditions in the UK, is increasing. In England, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes rose from 1.9 million in 2006 to 2.9 million in 2013 and this is expected to rise to more than 5 million by 2025. The life expectancy of people with diabetes is shortened by up to 15 years, and 75% die of macrovascular complications (NICE, 2016).
Diabetic neuropathy and peripheral arterial disease put people with diabetes at greater risk of foot problems and it is estimated that one in ten will have a foot ulcer due to diabetes during their lives. Diabetes is also the most common cause of limb amputation not associated with trauma, and 80% of these amputations will be preceded by foot ulceration (NICE, 2016).
Foot ulcers have a significant impact on people’s quality of life, while the annual cost to the NHS of foot ulcers or amputations was estimated to be around £650 million in 2012, or £1 in every £150. There is considerable regional variation in services and practice for preventing and treating foot problems in people with diabetes, highlighted by NICE in their latest guideline on Diabetic foot problems: prevention and management (NICE, 2016).
Evidence-based practice in foot care for people with diabetes
Evidence-based practice is the use of current best evidence in making decisions a Continue reading

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Breakthroughs for Diabetes Treatments

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Summary: Recently pharmaceutical firms have released new diabetes treatments, including one in the past week. Moreover, a promising new therapy that attacks the root cause of type 2 diabetes is in the development pipeline. [This article first appeared on the LongevityFacts.com website. Author: Brady Hartman. ]
The CDC recently shocked the public when they reported that 40% of Americans walking around today would develop type 2 diabetes.
Many people develop type 2 diabetes as they age because their body’s response to insulin – the hormone that controls sugar levels – gets weaker.
Fortunately, scientists have discovered new treatments for the disease and have more in the pipeline. One such drug, ertugliflozin (brand name Steglatro) was released less than a week ago.
Moreover, researchers at UCSD are developing a promising new therapy that attacks type 2 diabetes at its cellular roots.
Furthermore, doctors have developed a medication maintenance program, which can help prevent type 2 diabetics from health-robbing complications such as blindness, heart and kidney disease, and peripheral vascular disease.
There is also hope for type 1 diabetics, as scientists are working on improved insulin delivery devices, replacing damaged pancreases with stem cell-derived islet cells and the novel ‘pancreas in a box‘ that may restore normal insulin regulation.
Type 2 Diabetes Epidemic
Diabetes has been a documented human disorder for millennia, but only in recent decades has it developed into an epidemic. Mentions of the condition in ancient medical text Continue reading

The Pressure Is On

Hypertension and Diabetes
If your doctor has told you that you have high blood pressure, or hypertension, you may well have groaned at the thought of more dietary restrictions and/or another pill to take. Or maybe you just tuned him out. After all, you have enough to do with caring for your diabetes, and how serious could high blood pressure be, anyway, since it has no symptoms?
In fact, high blood pressure is very serious. But paying attention to it now can save you a lot of grief down the road.
Why it matters
High blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure in people with diabetes. While the relationship between high blood pressure and diabetes is not fully understood, it is known that high blood pressure is two times more common in people with diabetes than in the general population. More than half of people with Type 2 diabetes already have high blood pressure at the time of their diabetes diagnosis.
In a person with diabetes, high blood pressure accelerates the blood vessel damage caused by high blood glucose. High blood pressure contributes to more than two-thirds of the serious and life-threatening complications of diabetes, including stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure. However, numerous studies have shown that treating high blood pressure aggressively substantially reduces the risk of death from stroke and heart attack.
For people with diabetes, the goal for blood pressure control is to keep it below 140/90 mm Hg. This target was established on the basis of large-scale studies that showed significant re Continue reading

Reversing Type 2 diabetes? Yes, it can be done

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Increasingly, research is showing that Type 2 diabetes can be put into long-term remission.
"It's taken years to accumulate this evidence," said Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, diabetes expert at McMaster University. "Ten years ago people would have been very skeptical that it's even possible."
Type 2 diabetes affects one in 10 Canadians. It is a serious metabolic disorder that can result in stroke, kidney failure, blindness, amputations and premature death. Right now doctors try to manage the disease using drugs to control a patient's blood glucose levels. Some of those drugs have serious side-effects.
"If you're on drugs it's not really remission, it's just controlling the disease," Gerstein said.
We reached him in Lisbon, where he's attending an international diabetes conference. At that meeting, a U.K. group presented research showing that Type 2 diabetes remission can be sustained for up to 10 years through weight loss.
Gerstein's own group is conducting a series of trials studying ways to reverse the condition using a combination of diet, exercise, counselling and short-term drug therapy.
Still, the goal of remission is not routinely being offered to patients right now.
"If you ask more experts at this meeting they'd say, 'Great idea,' but they'd have huge arguments about what to do and how to do it," Gerstein said. "The only way to resolve these arguments is to do the research."
Also this week, a group of U.K. Continue reading

Suffering from diabetes? These five apps can help you manage your lifestyle better

Diabetes requires long-term treatment, often spanning over many years. This makes adherence to a blood sugar-controlling lifestyle, such as healthy eating, regular physical activity, and timely medication, a challenge.
It is common for patients to make errors in their diabetes management, by either binge eating carbohydrates on a particular day, not exercising enough, or forgetting to take their medicine. Fortunately, patients today have access to mobile apps that can help them manage their diabetes and keep their blood sugar under control.
Here are five apps that can make the lives of patients with diabetes simpler:
1) Wellthy Diabetes:
Wellthy is an AI-powered personal health coach for people with Type 2 diabetes. Carey, its virtual diabetes educator, provides immediate, personalised feedback on logging meals, activity and blood sugar levels. All the logged data gets stored and analysed, and can be shared with the doctor.
The app also provides certified diabetes educators to coach patients and answer their queries, and has been approved to be prescribed by doctors.
2) Life in control:
By connecting doctors, patients and diabetes coaches, this app helps people with diabetes manage their blood sugar level and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The app offers personalised and easy-to-follow diet plans, sets daily healthcare goals, provides regular access to the coaches, and allows the doctors to track HbA1C and blood sugar levels, medicines, insulin and other health vitals of their patients.
3) Diabeto
Diabeto provides a comprehensive diabetes management solution. The app allows Continue reading