All rights reserved Skin Problems Diabetic Foot Ulcers Diabetes Mellitus affects approximately 16 million people in the United States.
Foot ulcers are the open sores that remain after the surface skin and tissues have been damaged.
Diabetic foot ulcers account for about twenty percent of all hospitalizations in diabetics and some studies estimate the annual cost of foot disease in America is over one billion dollars. Unfortunately, these ulcers also result in over 67,000 amputations each year and almost half of these amputations could have been avoided with preventative treatment, prompt medical attention and drug therapy. Although these factors may exist independently, most cases of diabetic foot ulcers involve a combination of these three factors. In addition diabetic foot ulcers may go undetected for a period of time due to other complications associated with diabetes such as visual impairment or nerve damage. Diabetic Neuropathy Hyperglycemia in diabetic patients causes the accumulation of polyalcohol sorbital in circulation, which is experimentally thought to cause nerve swelling.