On Healthy Living

It’s World Diabetes Day, and the focus this year is on foot and leg amputations. The risk of a leg amputation is 15-40 times greater for a person with diabetes, according to a news release. People of Hispanic and African ancestry are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to suffer from foot problems and undergo amputations than Caucasians. In 2002, about 82,000 non-traumatic lower-limb amputations were performed among people with diabetes.

More than 20 million Americans have diabetes, and 60 to 70 percent suffer nerve damage because of the disease. This damage, when severe, can lead to the need for amputations from unnoticed infection when feeling is lost in the limb.

“It is imperative that awareness be raised about the serious risk of amputation for people with diabetes,” said Dr. Robert Rizza, president of the American Diabetes Association. “Diabetes is the most frequent cause of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations, and the importance of educating patients about how to recognize the warning signs of neuropathy and prevent its complications cannot be stressed enough.”

For more information about diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association.

Sarah White wrote this on November 14th, 2005 and filed it under Healthy Living, Women's Health, Men's Health, Health & Aging |