Diabetes And Foot Problems
November 28, 2011When many people think about the issues of diabetics, there are normally two things that they think of: problems with sugar and issues with feet. The sugar difficulty has to do with their bodies’ inability to cope with carbohydrates easily and the feet difficulty is to do with circulation.
The medical term for these problems in the feet is to do with ‘neuropathy’. It frequently results in ‘cold extremities’. This means the farthest points from the heart, so it includes the hands and the feet, which are naturally the farthest extremity from the heart’s blood supply.
If you have a deficiency of blood in your extremities, you can damage them without even knowing it. If you hurt your hands, you will see the problem, because your hands are before your face all day, but if you injure your feet, it may go unnoticed for a while.
People touch their face several times an hour, but how often do they scrutinize their feet? What if you had stepped on a rusty nail and did not know it? Your foot would become infected and you might not know it as quickly as a non-diabetic.
This lack of sensitivity in the feet works in another, more internal way as well. The nerves in your feet might not realise that your feet are drying out, so they might not order a supply of oil.
This will eventually mean that your feet will be dried out. The skin may crack and lead to pain. If you notice this, you have to talk to your GP immediately.
If the skin cracks, it is more likely that an infection will follow with a diabetic, because of the elevated level of sugar in the blood. The increased nutrients will breed millions more bacteria and the infection will grow far faster than usual.
This is the case of any difficulty, not just the feet. Gum disease is a lot more common in diabetics too for the same reason. The presence of this extra sugar/glucose and the resulting bacteria can lead to a higher rate of gangrene, if left untreated.
Therefore, it is crucial for a diabetic to keep his or her blood/sugar level under control at all times. This is very difficult in the beginning and the greenhorn diabetic should follow strict guidelines, usually worrying at every step of the way.
Nevertheless, it does not need to be like that. Most diabetics find out how to manage their consumption in order to keep their blood/sugar and insulin levels under control. This comes with experience and after much worry, but diet is the key and so is exercise.
The greenhorn diabetic has to learn what he or she may consume without worry and what he or she may eat and have to think of it. After a time, this will get to be second nature, but you have to do it for the sake of yourself and your extremities.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of topics, and is currently concerned with cookbooks for diabeticss. If you would like to kcurrently more, please visit our site at http://cookbooksfordiabetics.com

















