Dr J S Lamba Clinic

Diabetes features as one of the most common ailments in contemporary times. Mostly assumed as a congenital disease, diabetes is growingly targeting different age groups and often the outburst of diabetes is mostly unmapped. Diabetes is mainly spurred by the presence of high blood sugar content in the patient's blood.

When you have diabetes, your body does not produce enough insulin or loses the ability to utilize it. When this happens, your blood sugar level goes up. Diabetes can affect all organs of the body. Your feet are no exception.

How does diabetes affect the foot?

There are two ways in which the foot may be affected by diabetes -

1. Diabetic neuropathy: Diabetes can damage the nerves of the feet so that you lose all sensations in your extremities. So you can no longer feel any irritation or pain in your feet. If sores/cuts/blisters develop on your feet, you won’t know and they may fester and get infected.
2. Peripheral vascular disease: This disorder affects the blood vessels of your limbs. Fatty deposits clog the blood vessels that carry blood from your feet to your heart. So blood flow is cut off to the feet. This may lead to pain, numbness, swelling, slow healing of wounds or infection.
3. Ischemic foot: When blood flow to the feet is interrupted, you may develop an ischemic foot, which is characterized by cold skin, loss of hair from the legs and discoloration. In extreme cases, the affected foot may have to be amputated.

What are the symptoms of diabetic foot?
The range of symptoms depend on the intensity of the disorder and vary from one patient to another-

• Tingling sensation in the feet
• Numbness of the feet
• Blisters or wounds that refuse to heal
• Discoloration of the skin of the feet
• Stains on the inside of your socks
• Deformed feet

If an infection has set in, some symptoms that will manifest are-

• Trembling of the limbs and arms
• Spiking blood sugar
• Shock
• Redness and swelling of the feet

Complications
The complications that may arise out of diabetic foot are-

• Ulcers of the foot
• Abscesses
• Gangrene and death of tissues
• Charcot’s Foot or fractures and dislocations of the bones of the feet
• Deformity of the feet

Revascularization for diabetic foot

Chronic diabetic foot can be treated with multiple revascularization methods like synthetic conduits, endarterectomy, balloon angioplasty, arteriovenous reversal, muscle flap transfer or atherectomy. These procedures eliminate the need for limb amputation. The aim of a revascularization procedure is to fix up the blood vessels that were blocked by bypassing the affected blood vessel so that blood can normally flow to your feet.

Along with revascularization, your doctor will recommend exercises like walking to increase supply of blood to the feet as well as medicines that will deal with the pain and swelling.

Diabetic foot can be a serious health threat that could lead to the limb being amputated. But with revascularization, you can get back on your feet in no time and resume your daily activities

During the time between 24th to 28th weeks of your pregnancy, you might develop a high level of glucose in your blood stream; this is known as gestational diabetes, and it affects the cells in the blood and how they absorb and use the glucose.

Ten best remedies which can prevent or control this problem are as follows:

1. Regular monitoring of the level of blood sugar: Prevention is always better than cure, especially if you are at risk. When you are an expecting mother, you need to monitor the blood sugar level before having food and after two hours of the meal as many times as you can in a day. Fasting sugar level must not exceed 95mg/dl and the postprandial level after 2 hours must be within 120mg/dl.
2. Healthy start to the day with a healthy breakfast: You must have a low-fat breakfast like yogurt, oatmeal, cereals made of whole grains and porridge. Your breakfast should have an adequate amount of starch as well as protein, and you must avoid milk during the meal. Even fruits are not good for your body in the early morning.
3. Maintaining the carbs: If you have gestational diabetes or want to prevent it, the best way is to manage the intake of carbohydrates in your meals. You should have the complex Carbs as they prevent fluctuation in the insulin levels and thus the blood sugar level is controlled.
4. High fibrous food: For maintaining the blood sugar level during pregnancy, you need to have an adequate amount of fiber in your meals. It helps in controlling the sugar level in the blood by inhibiting the excess release of the insulin. You can have beans, cereals, pulses, dried peas and the fruit and vegetables with low glycemic index.
5. Exercise can help all: Exercise is the way to prevent any diabetes and so is gestational diabetes. Moreover, exercise is mandatory during the pregnancy to have a healthy term and baby. Pregnant women must ask their trainer which activities are suitable for them. The blood sugar level is controlled through proper glucose metabolism, and also it reduces the resistance to the insulin.
6. Go sugar-free: It is better to use sugar-free products and consciously lessen the amount of sugar in your food items if you want to control gestational diabetes.
7. Cinnamon tea your best friend: To stimulate the metabolism rate of glucose, you can have cinnamon as it has bioactive elements which control the glucose, cholesterol, etc.
8. Get sufficient sleep: Listen to your body and give it the rest it needs and it will help maintain good health in general which included a stable blood glucose level.
9. Stress management: The most important way to control glucose level is to manage the stress in your mind.
10. Take your medicines on time: If you have gestational diabetes, take the prescribed medication promptly as per your doctor's advice.