Dry foot gangrene, as a part of diabetes management, has become a major medical problem. This website is intended to allow you to manage your own care, ask the right questions, insist on adequate management and information, and seek an optimal outcome for yourself as an informed patient. Perhaps it will even help the health professionals who are giving care to better understand and, hopefully, incorporate into their practice the nutritional approach to gangrene - its prevention and treatment.

Since 1958, in the United States the incidence of adult onset diabetes has increased 600 percent. The Centers for Disease Control has termed the change an epidemic.

 

Type 2 diabetes mellitus, also known as adult onset diabetes, has been ranked as the seventh leading cause of death and disease in the United States today.

 

There are now over 21 million diabetics in the U.S. alone; that is about 10 million American diabetic men and 10 million American diabetic women, and over a third don't even know it which is unfortunate since screenings are easy to perform.

And there is no end in sight to this rapid and uncontrollable outbreak of disease. With 800,000 new cases each year it is not surprising that diabetes ranks high among the list of conditions expected to accelerate. While not simply as a result of diabetes, 31 percent of all U.S. households are watching their sugar intake (Natural Marketing Institute, 2001).

Almost 160 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. And it is estimated that by the year 2025 this number will double.

The onset of diabetes is insidious and often before birth; it develops so gradually that before becoming apparent it has been already well established.

In short, for the adult onset diabetes, the pathophysiology is based on producing much more insulin than normal - but not enough to keep the blood sugar under control.

The result is: high blood sugars. And this high sugar is able to scar and destroy the blood vessels and the organs throughout the body.

The risk of having type 2 diabetes increases with age. If you are 45 or older you may be at risk. There are several indicators used to assess a level of risk of diabetes, including:

• Family history (One of parents or a brother or sister developed diabetes)
• Obesity (20 percent over ideal body weight)
• Race (African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American, or Pacific Islander)
• Age (45 years old or older)
• Previously identified impaired glucose tolerance (fasting blood glucose readings of more than 110 mg/dL in the past)
• Hypertension (140/90 mmHg or more)
• High cholesterol and high triglycerides (150 mg/dL or more)
• History of gestational diabetes - a form of the disease that occurs halfway through a pregnancy as a result of excessive hormone production in the body (it usually goes away after pregnancy, leaving women who had it at an increased risk for later developing type 2 diabetes)
• Giving birth to a baby over nine lbs. - the mother who gains excessive weight and delivers the large for dates infant is doubling the child's risk for diabetes within his/ her lifetime.

 

In addition, there is a small percentage of diabetes cases resulting from

• Surgery
• Chemicals
• Drugs
• Malnutrition - the 'junk' diets high on processed carbohydrates and sweeteners result in fat, out-of-shape and inactive children; this is fertile ground for the rapid and increasing growth of our population of adult onset diabetic teenagers and adults

  People with diabetes and/or blood vessel disease (such as arteriosclerosis or atherosclerosis) should routinely examine their feet for any signs of injury, infection, or change in skin color.

• Infections
• Viruses, and
• Other illnesses.

 

Often described as the silent killer, diabetes can - if left untreated - lead to many serious health problems. Therefore, the sooner the disease is screened for and diagnosed, the more damage can be prevented.

Unfortunately, the medical therapy is erroneously only concerned with the blood sugar. That is why most doctors prescribe Glynase(R), Micronase(R), Glucophage(R) and rarely Rezulin(R)/ Avandia(R) or Actos(R).

The drugs will hopefully prevent a diabetic crisis with blood sugars going too high or too low. But the underlying disease process - the 'overflowing' of the body with glucose stores - is being ignored by the generations of treating physicians.

By the time the individual develops foot ulcers, his or her dire calls for medical help may be too late.

 

Ulcers develop when there is insufficient circulation. About 80 percent of foot ulcers occur on the bottom of insensate feet, or feet without feeling. They appear as shallow holes or craters which can vary in color, size and depth; they don't heal and may be extremely painful and in some cases give off an unpleasant smell. The medical term is gangrene.

 

Expensive and time-consuming debridements, medications, antibiotics, therapy and skin grafts cannot correct the underlying process.

Here’s a typical situation:

 

An individual has been diabetic for 30 years. He is on 40 units of insulin daily and has already had amputation of toes on his foot. As his diabetic disease is well advanced, the ulcer on the bottom of his foot does not heal. His toes are affected with wet gangrene. But because his diabetes is so advanced, he will undergo further amputation.