During National Diabetes Awareness Month, health professionals are trying to get the message out about a serious complication that often comes with the disease: diabetic foot ulcers, or D-F-U’s. Vascular surgeon Dr. Gary Gibbons says several things cause them. One is diabetic neoropathy, which is when the nerves in diabetics are affected by sugar and it causes loss of sensation in the foot. Many diabetics also have circulation problems, and often wound healing is much slower in those with diabetes. Gibbons says 29 million Americans are diabetic, and another 8 million are but don’t know it.
Anyone who has diabetes can develop an ulcer, but some of us are more at risk than others. Native Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics and older men are more likely to develop DFUs, along with people who use insulin, or have diabetes-related kidney, eye or heart disease.
Gibbons says we can do something to prevent diabetes.
Gibbons says as soon as someone is diagnosed with diabetes, he or she should be careful because ulcers can lead to amputations and even death.
The C-D-C says diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, killing nearly 80 thousand people every year.