Diabetes and your feet
“Every five seconds someone develops diabetes. Every 10 seconds someone dies from diabetes, and every 20 seconds someone has a diabetic lower limb amputation.” These are the sobering words of Dr. Perry Mayer, Medical Director of The Mayer Institute, who recently spoke at the 15th Annual Professional Conference and Annual Meetings of the Canadian Diabetes Association/Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism in Vancouver.
Dr. Mayer says that people would be shocked to learn that the five-year mortality rate for someone who has a healable, diabetes related foot wound is higher than almost all cancers (except lung and pancreatic cancer). Nearly one third of people with diabetes who require an amputation will die within the following year and two thirds will die within five years.
Diabetic foot ulcers are a serious and common complication of diabetes. It is estimated that 15 per cent of Canadians with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime. Several of the chronic complications of diabetes contribute to the risk of foot ulcers: loss of sensation in the feet due to nerve damage allows small cuts or injuries to go unnoticed, and both blockages in blood vessels and decreased immune function make it difficult for a wound to heal. Canadians with diabetes are 23 times more likely to be hospitalized for a limb amputation than those without diabetes and 85 per cent of those amputations are the result of a non-healing foot ulcer.
“The management of diabetic foot disease is as vital to the health of our patients as is the treatment of diabetic eye disease, kidney disease, or heart disease and, yet, it is routinely underdiagnosed and undertreated” says Dr. Mayer.
Effective and skilled management of foot ulcers by healthcare providers is critical to prevent amputation. The good news is that patients can help to prevent problems and keep their feet healthy by effectively managing their diabetes, caring for their feet, wearing properly fitted shoes, and asking their healthcare provider for help if they experience any problems with their feet.
The Canadian Diabetes Association has partnered with the Canadian Association of Wound Care to provide a number of helpful foot care guides to people living with diabetes. To find out more and to download these easy to use foot care tools, click here.