THE VALUE OF A PODIATRIST!

“Most of the time it is you podiatrist that will be amongst the first to let you know if you have diabetes or not.” – American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA)

Surprisingly enough the fact above is overlooked by the medical community so much so that it might even come as a surprise to some doctors but that is the truth and it is backed up by hard facts and research studies which show that not only can podiatrist save patients limbs but their preventative measures can impact everyone in the community as a whole. Through regular checkups, especially with diabetic patients, the chances for amputations decrease greatly and the costs associated with it for the patient, the hospital and everyone else paying taxes can decrease in millions, resulting in improvements in our healthcare which is always struggling in our country despite the billions of dollars spent annually.

Thompson Reuters, an internationally respected private research firm whom expertise is especially in healthcare, came out with a new study with results that speak volumes regarding the importance to the whole society regarding a podiatrists involvement in early care for diabetic patients. This study was also sponsored by the American Podiatric Medical Association and the brief synopsis and results are as follows..

The study examined records for more than 32,000 diabetic patients between the ages 18-64 and more than 43,000 diabetic patients over the age of 65. The study focused on health and risk factors between those who had podiatric visits defined as at least one pre-ulcer visit (look in the previous blog to see a picture of a controlled ulcer) to those who did not. The results were as such that those with podiatric visits significantly lowered their risks for hospitalizations and amputations; in the 18-64 age group, 15 percent lowered their odds of amputation and 17 percent lowered their odds from hospitalization. Patients 65 years old and over who had at least one pre-ulcer visit with their podiatrist lowered their risk of major amputation by 23 percent and hospitalization by 9 percent.

Along with the findings adove, the study also demonstrated the cost saving benefits when podiatrists are given the opportunity for preventative care in the chronically ill patients.  Every dollar invested in podiatric care for patients in the 18-64 age group resulted in $27-$51 in health-care cost savings and $9-$13 of savings per dollar invested in patients 65 and older.

Furthermore, even as little as 20 percent increase in podiatric care in just patients with diabetes alone can result in annual savings of $191 million!

These hard facts can only solidify the presence of a podiatrist in the medical community and echo the sheer importance of seeing a podiatrist regularly especially if you are a diabetic patient. Remember always, it is better to be safe than sorry, early than late, especially when it can have life changing outcomes which will impact your daily life forever. 

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What You Can't Feel, Can Hurt You!

   http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cROPEDuEEWqFwVoM-0O5BQ 

            What exactly is this horrific picture and why does it look like an acid has been poured on this person’s foot and such a hole has been made that one can see all the way down to the tissues inside a human body; so much so that if that if this hole was any bigger, one could possibly stick their finger in and feel the bones of the foot in that region…

This is a picture of a foot ulcer and this patient is a diabetic person who had unknowingly and unwillingly lost their sensation of the foot and did not maintain continuous checkup with their podiatrist, until they had noticed that their skin had split open and they should probably go get it checked out! Now when I say unknowingly is because people with diabetes have the highest chances of developing peripheral neuropathy, a condition which makes a person loose sensation in parts of their bodies such as the feet, which also happen to be amongst the first areas where this disease process usually manifests itself. So what happens is that without proper consultation or not following up or listening to what your physicians’ advice or recommendations, diabetic patients on a regular basis cannot gauge if they are acquiring neuropathy or if they even do have it! Some of the earlier signs are of pain, tingling, numbness and the later signs are that there is no sensation at all, whether it is pain, cold, heat, or even more importantly pressure. When the earlier signs are not noted of and taken into consideration, the later stages are sure to come, especially in diabetics and a foot ulcer is just around the corner.

So how are these ulcers forming on such a frequent basis in diabetics? Well for starters let me tell you that an ulcer does not always start of this big, however they can become quite large or even so problematic that at times a part of the foot if not all of it needs to be amputated. An ulcer can form due to many many reasons. One can split their skin which has been deprived of fresh oxygen and nutrient and possibly could be infectious and the dead tissue needs to be taken out before it keeps spreading all over the foot. This can start of really small but continue to keep spreading if visits are not persistent and maintenance of cleaning and taking out the dead tissue is not regular.

Sometimes a person can stub their toe or step on a nail or anything else for that matter and not feel it and continue their daily routines while the object is still inside their foot and this can start a local infection that can spread and turn into an ulcer and the end result can again be like the picture up top.

This brief yet scary view of a very serious disease process can be prevented and that is what I want the take home message to be, on top of the fear factor. It will never be emphasized highly enough to someone with diabetes how important it is to control and keep their blood sugar levels in control and to visit their podiatrist on a regular basis so your doctor can take necessary steps into making sure your feet can maintain proper functioning for as long as possible. Sometimes, sadly enough, especially with diabetics who have peripheral neuropathy and other serious medical conditions, ulcers and other complications are inevitable, however, with routine cleansing and protection from your podiatrist, these disease processes can be kept at a minimum which can make life a whole lot better for the patient in the long run.

And so, I will leave you with a quote that perhaps before this article might not have made much sense or would have even sounded as if this doctor was joking, but hopefully after reading this blog, this quote will shed new light and a new approach to looking at things....

“Pain is God’s greatest gift to mankind” – Paul Brand, MD

High Blood Sugar = BIG Problems!

Rarely are they brought up in a conversation and seldomly are they given their due credit as to their importance but, always are they overlooked until the time of crises when something either goes horribly wrong or even just slightly.

It is pretty reasonable to say that the engine is the heart of the car, but can the car get anywhere if there are no tires on it..? Same essence have the feet with the body and it’s engine, the heart. But what people fail to realize is exactly what they realize when it’s too late; without proper functioning of the feet, the whole body in its entirety is going to falter and even their simple daily tasks are going to feel as if they are moving mountains.

So in simple terms, if the feet are hurting, the whole body is hurting.

In this blog, I am going to link possibly one of the most devastating conditions one can have, namely Peripheral Neuropathy with another condition that many in the U.S have, Diabetes. It has been proven that diabetes is one of the leading causes of peripheral neuropathy and the damage that it can cause can progress to be extremely devastating quite rapidly unless treated from the beginning.

Peripheral neuropathy is caused when nerves which exist outside the human brain and spinal cord and go to all the different parts of the body, especially the feet, are damaged. They no longer can sense or feel anything, hence do not relay the message to the brain and thus the brain does not respond back even in situations that would make a normal person scream, like stepping on a nail and having it pierce right through the skin. Sounds kind of cool as if one has developed super powers to not feel anything but the results could not be any further from the truth. Such conditions can lead to some of the most serious amputations, leaving people with only one limb at times.

Obesity, inactive lifestyle and heredity are some of the potential risk factors for developing diabetes, namely diabetes II which mainly occurs in older people. This increases their chances of acquiring neuropathy which also manifests itself in those at older ages. The root cause of the problem that arises is the damage done to the nerves in the body from constant high blood sugar levels. The nerves which shoot out like roots from the center of the body and keep dividing and branching until all (peripheral) areas of body are covered, like arms, legs, feet etc., start to get damaged and can eventually stop functioning by not sending messages back to the center of the body where the spinal cord is which sends the message to the brain. When this stops happening, a person cannot only have a loss of sensation but also a loss of movement since nerves control both. If one was to experience both of this, it would mean that they are in their later stages of neuropathy and their condition is very serious and immediately should they go see a foot and ankle specialist, especially if these symptoms are occurring in the feet where they usually do start from.

One has to take in consideration that preventative care needs to be addressed very seriously and if any signs of pain, numbness, tingling do occur in and around the feet area, it is a must that one goes to see a podiatrist to treat their conditions so they do not worsen. .

Keep up with these blogs as the next one will get into deeper details as to what one can go through while having peripheral neuropathy via diabetes and the many ways your podiatrist can help prevent, treat and bring relief.

That Prickly Feeling: Prickly Feeling..

That Prickly Feeling: Prickly Feeling..: "Imagine yourself for a second sitting in a chair with your legs hanging down and your feet touching the ground while you spend some time..."

Prickly Feeling..

Imagine yourself for a second sitting in a chair with your legs hanging down and your feet touching the ground while you spend some time on a sunny afternoon reading the local newspaper and enjoying a cup of tea when suddenly you hear you phone ring and you have to get up and go get it. You were aware that you had some tingly feeling going on in your feet but only brushed it off as it was not seriously bothering you but only to find yourself in excruciating pain when you got up and started walking that you realized that something is terribly wrong. With every step the feeling became more intense and instead of thinking that you are getting closer to your phone, you start thinking will you even be able to make it that far? With every step you feel a thousand pins pricking you from the bottom of your feet making it not only hard for you to walk but upsetting everything else in your body especially your mood… forcing you to fall into depression as to what can be so severely wrong ?!

Believe it or not, this is only a mild exemplary case of a disease process known as Neuropathy, more specifically Peripheral Neuropathy. Peripheral meaning body parts such as arms, legs and more importantly your feet will lay victim if not prevented and taken care of as soon as possible, perhaps even before symptoms begin.
Some symptoms of foot neuropathy are numbness, pain, burning, sensory loss, muscle weakness, and slowed reflexes in the foot. These are usually brought upon due to damage or disease to the nerves in your foot which carry signal to the brain and convey messages from the brain back to your feet; thus being extremely important in not only the overall being of the foot but the entire body as nerves travel everywhere in the human body. Also Neuropathy does not tend to stay just localized in the foot but will start traveling to other body parts as soon as it gets a chance. Thus it is very important to maintain a healthy diet and take overall care of your body and check for early signs. If symptoms exist, it is crucial to go see a podiatrist, who are experts in not only complications such as neuropathy, but any and everything that relates to the foot and ankle.

If you are already experiencing symptoms of foot neuropathy, your podiatrist can give you medications to control and even diminish your symptoms thus preventing a list ailments that could follow. One of such cures can come from an oral treatment called Neuremedy. Nicknamed the Neuropathy Vitamin, it has shown to improve conditions of many people suffering from neuropathy while not having adverse affects when taken with other medicines which is a huge plus! How Neuremedy works is replacing the body with Thiamine (Vitamin B1) which is in low quantities in the body and specifically the nerves. Neuremedy nourishes the nerves with Vitamin B1 so as to restore proper function.

Elderly people, people with diabetes, people who have had gastric by-pass surgery or patients on certain medications are all at greater risk for having low levels of Thiamine in their bodies and are highly recommended to go consult with their podiatrist whether Neuremedy is right for them. Though also available on the internet, it is important to speak with an expert before buying any health supplements for consumption.

Stay tuned for future blogs regarding neuropathy and it’s causes, further treatments and even some specific cases involving real patients.