• Diabetes Foot Complications
• Foot and Skin Related Complications of Diabetes
• Healthy Living
• Q & A
• Helpful Links
• Diabetes News

Welcome to the May issue of Access Digest. This month we are looking at the relationships of diabetes to foot care, and how to avoid some serious complications.

Our Lifestyle Tip is about dealing with the long-term complications of diabetes. Our Recipe of the Month is Asparagus, Thyme and Tomato Halibut. 

As always, when you see "Read More" at the end of an article, or something that is underlined, you can click on it to be linked to another Web site where you'll find more information. When you find a site that you may want to visit again in the future, you can bookmark it.

Each month we receive questions from our readers. We post some of the more frequent questions and answers for everyone to read. If you have questions or comments of your own, please e-mail them to us at the end of this issue.

We hope you enjoy this issue of our newsletter. Thank you for making Access Diabetic Supply your choice for diabetic supplies.

People with diabetes can develop many different foot problems. Even ordinary problems can get worse and lead to serious complications.

Foot problems most often happen when there is nerve damage, also called neuropathy, which results in loss of feeling in your feet. Poor blood flow or changes in the shape of your feet or toes may also cause problems.

Neuropathy
Skin Changes
Calluses
Foot Ulcers
Poor Circulation
Amputation

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Foot and Skin Related Complications of Diabetes

For people with diabetes, having too much glucose (sugar) in their blood for a long time can cause some serious complications, including foot and skin problems, as well as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, eye damage, and other problems.

Diabetes can cause two problems that can affect your feet:

Diabetic neuropathy — Uncontrolled diabetes can damage your nerves. If you have damaged nerves in your legs and feet, you might not feel heat, cold or pain. This lack of feeling is called diabetic neuropathy. If you do not feel a cut or sore on your foot because of neuropathy, the cut could get worse and become infected.

Peripheral vascular disease — Diabetes also affects the flow of blood. Without good blood flow, it takes longer for a sore or cut to heal. Poor blood flow in the arms and legs is called peripheral vascular disease. (The word "peripheral" means "located away from a central point," and the word "vascular" refers to the blood vessels. Peripheral vascular disease is a circulation disorder that affects blood vessels away from the heart.)

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A Diabetes Health advisory board member offers advice on how to treat your feet well and avoid wounds and infections that could lead to amputation.

The most frequent reason that people with diabetes are hospitalized is because of a serious foot problem, too often leading to amputation. Each year more than 60,000 people in the United States require a lower-extremity amputation because of diabetes. But even Elliot Joslin, MD, recognized as early as the 1920s and 1930s, that amputation was not inevitable. With a team approach to diabetes care, amputation rates could be greatly reduced.

To decrease the possibility of an amputation, people with diabetes must understand the causes that lead to amputation. Once you understand the causes, a foot care program can help you to prevent them.

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May Lifestyle Tip: Avoiding Long-Term Complications of Diabetes

Long-term complications related to diabetes are often linked to having high blood sugar levels over a long period of time. But blood sugar control isn't the only thing that determines a person's risk for complications. Other factors, like genes, can also play a role. Many of the complications of diabetes don't show up until after many years of having the disease. They usually develop silently and gradually over time, so even if your child isn't having any symptoms, he or she may still eventually develop complications.

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This month our featured recipe is Asparagus, Thyme and Tomato Halibut. It's hard to beat a dish that's beautiful, flavorful, nutritious and easy to prepare. This week's recipe earns high marks in all four categories and takes advantage of seasonal asparagus – now at its peak at most farmers' markets. Combined with fresh thyme, fragrant lemon and juicy tomatoes, our roasted halibut is sure to become a family favorite.

Below are a few of the typical questions our customer care department has answered on this month's theme. Each question is linked to a Web site that gives an answer and provides more detail. We hope you find this section helpful.