Foot Care & Diabetes

Q: Could I develop a Diabetic Foot Ulcer?
A: Nearly 25% of Veterans are diagnosed with diabetes. General risk factors for diabetes include obesity, high blood pressure, sedentary lifestyle, and prediabetes, to name a few. However early diabetes screening allows Veterans to make changes to their lifestlye and take advantage of annual foot screenings in our offices in Blacksburg and Troutville, VA to help manage diabetes complications such as Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs).



Q: What if I develop a Diabetic Foot Ulcer?
A: People with diabetes have a 15-25% lifetime risk of developing a DFU, many of which are often associated with impaired blood flow and may not heal within an appropriate time frame. If you develop a DFU, immediately come to our office!

Q: Why should I seek treatment?
A: If left untreated, DFUs can become infected and may lead to serious complications. If detected and treated early, many of these complications can be averted. With the multitude of resources available to Veterans with diabetes, never hesitate to seek immediate medical attention when you become aware of a foot wound.

Don't put medical attention off! Always promote preventative care!

Obese children are more prone to leg, ankle, and foot injury.

A new pediatric study reveals that obese children are more prone to leg, ankle, and foot injury than other children their age. Dr. Wendy J. Pomerantz of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio and several of her colleagues studied the patient records from the emergency room in their hospital from January 2005 to March 2008. They noticed some very interesting trends. About 30% of obese children in their study had suffered from lower extremity injuries verses the 18% of normal weight children. On the other side of the spectrum the study showed that 15% of the normal weight children suffered from head injuries compared to 10% of the obese children. The study showed that over weight children often had a longer recovery time than other children. They also found that ankle sprains where twice as common among obese children as other children their age. Although the researchers didn’t have the information explaining how these children became injured the group hypothesized that obese children are more vulnerable during walking or running while normal weight children have an easier time playing sports that carry the risk of head injury.

Of course parents want to protect their children so these numbers might scare some parents into not letting their children be active. But this is not what the study was meant to do. We want children to be active but we want them to be safe about it. Obese children (just like adults) should ease into exercise and sports instead of jumping right in.

Pomerantz’s steps following this study are to figure out why these numbers are slated this way and try to find some protective measures to help keep children safe.