What is diabetic foot and is it a complication of diabetes?

According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetic foot refers to the infection of the lower limbs, ulcer formation and/or destruction of deep tissues in diabetic patients due to neuropathy and various degrees of peripheral vascular lesions.

Diabetic foot is a diabetic patient due to long-term poor control of blood sugar and other reasons, resulting in microvascular and large, medium and small blood vessel stenosis, occlusion, blood flow disorders, resulting in ischemia of foot nerve cells, such sensory nerves, motor nerves, autonomic nerve damage, clinical manifestations of foot coldness, numbness, pain, intermittent claudication or infection. The essence of its pathological process is the same as other complications of diabetes, which is atherosclerosis of the arteries, vascular occlusion of the nerves, ischemia of nerve cells, and finally a series of clinical manifestations.

The chronic complications of diabetes mainly include (1) macrovascular complications: coronary heart disease, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and macrovascular arteriosclerosis (2) microangiopathy: diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy, and (3) diabetic neuropathy.

4) Diabetic foot.

Foot ulcers, commonly known as "diabetic foot". It is mainly caused by neuropathy and vascular lesions of the lower limbs with local compression or even injury. As with other chronic complications, prevention is more important than **.

Patients should pay attention to protecting their feet, wash their feet with 50 to 60 warm water every day, use a soft towel to absorb the water between the toes, and prevent the occurrence of ingrown nails. Socks should be soft and free of damage or nails, shoes should be loose, and shoes should be checked for sharp and hard foreign objects before wearing them. Special insoles can also be used to reduce pressure on local protrusions.

Sometimes** ulcers, cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, blood clots, and a feeling of numbness in the body will occur.

Diabetes itself is not a particularly serious disease, but the complications caused by diabetes are particularly terrible, which can cause many organs in the body to develop lesions due to diabetes. Once you have diabetes, you must find a way to lower your blood sugar, because only in this way can you prevent complications.

What are the common complications of diabetes?

, diabetic foot

If you don't have good blood sugar control after diabetes, you are prone to peripheral nerve and microvascular lesions, and losing your intuition is a very common condition. When blood sugar is not balanced, the sensation in the feet will become dull or disappear, and sometimes even burns will not be felt.

, eye diseases

Long-term diabetes can affect the tissues of the eyes, which can lead to the occurrence of some eye diseases. In general, diabetes can cause eye diseases, such as retinopathy, cataract and glaucoma, macular disease, etc., which generally cause blurred vision, unclear vision, and red eyes.

, respiratory tract infections

When the seasons change, even ordinary people suffer from respiratory infections, let alone people with diabetes. People with diabetes have much lower immunity than the general population, so they are more likely to suffer from respiratory infections during the change of seasons, and the disease is more severe if they are elderly patients with diabetes.

, kidney disease

If you have a history of diabetes for 10 years, you are likely to develop kidney disease. There are generally three types of kidney disease due to diabetes: nodular glomerulosclerosis, highly specific, and diffuse.

Among these, glomerulosclerosis is the most common form and is the one that has the greatest impact on the kidneys.

When you have diabetes, the first thing you need to do is prevent complications from occurring. In addition to controlling blood sugar, it is also necessary to control one's diet, not to consume foods with too high sugar, and to exercise more and do some exercises that are suitable for oneself, which is a particularly good way to avoid complications. In addition to these precautions, the most important thing to do is to monitor, if the blood sugar is not too high, it is enough to test it once a week or a month, if the blood sugar is very high, then it is necessary to test it once a day, because only in this way can complications be prevented.

What causes diabetic foot? What are the symptoms of diabetic foot?

1.Most diabetic foot patients are caused by external infection, which is due to the low resistance of the patient himself, and the ability to resist infection is naturally weak, which can easily lead to hypoxia in the limbs, so that bacteria can breed, and then invade the body, resulting in diabetic foot. Therefore, we should pay attention to personal hygiene in daily life to avoid infection.

Glycemic status factors. During the diabetes period, if the long-term blood sugar is not effectively controlled, it is easy to increase the blood viscosity, make the blood vessels stiff and thickened, etc., thereby reducing the ability of blood vessels to deform and the blood is insufficient. In order to avoid complications, it is recommended to strictly control the blood sugar level and avoid the symptoms of long-term hyperglycemia.

2.Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is the most common risk factor for diabetic foot. Diabetic neuropathy can involve sensory, motor, and autonomic nerves.

Sensory neuropathy is usually paresthesia or even loss that is distributed like a sock, making the patient feel less or less protected from temperature, pain, and pressure. Under the influence of external factors such as burns, foreign bodies, and trauma, foot ulcers can occur on feet without a sense of protection. Motor neuropathy impairs the patient's proprioception, causing the foot muscles to atrophy and lose balance between muscles, thereby destroying the normal structure of the foot, and the foot is prone to abnormal stress points when stressed, which eventually leads to the formation of ulcers.

Autonomic neuropathy, which causes impaired regulation of blood flow in the feet, abnormal sweating and temperature regulation in the feet, resulting in dryness.

3.Diabetic foot is often accompanied by neuropathy symptoms such as numbness in the feet, paresthesias, and sock-like paresthesias in both feet. Diabetic foot is a more characteristic lesion of diabetes, generally there will be peripheral neuropathy and bacterial infection of the lower limbs, even if the slight injury will not heal for a long time or form chronic ulcers, some patients will have lower limb pain or intermittent claudication due to the gradual narrowing of the arteries of the lower limbs, and in severe cases, there will be lower limb necrosis, and symptoms such as weakened or disappeared dorsalis pedis artery pulse can occur during physical examination.

For example, ulcers in the feet, vascular lesions, neuropathy, diabetes, and often high blood sugar. Sometimes** will ulcerate, may produce severe pain, muscle atrophy, may have a tingling sensation, will also be very numb, walking unsteady.

Poor eating habits, infrequent exercise, endocrine disorders in the body, poor digestion, and injuries to the feet. Muscle atrophy leads to malnutrition, and walking is like stepping on cotton. And there will be pigmentation, and there will also be ischemia of the lower limbs.

The blood sugar status is very poor due to the cause of infection, and there are many reasons, such as numbness, tingling, insufficient blood supply to the lower limbs, and severe pain.

The occurrence of diabetic foot is due to the long history of diabetes and the occurrence of chronic complications in diabetic patients, including macrovascular disease, microangiopathy and neurological lesions, which act together on the foot of diabetic patients. At this time, if some infections occur in the part of the foot, such as cutting nails and breaking them, or cutting the foot pads, and wearing shoes inappropriately, it can cause some small breaks.

Normal people can get better for this small injury in a few days, but diabetic patients have poor blood circulation due to blood vascular, nerve, and macrovascular lesions, which makes the local circulation relatively poor. At this time, coupled with a small local ulcer, it is easy to cause deep muscle rupture and thick swelling and infection, leading to the occurrence of diabetic foot. When diabetic foot occurs, insulin should be used to control blood sugar, and go to the hospital for timely sores to fight infection, symptomatic **, to avoid further deterioration of diabetic foot.

Foot disease in diabetic patients is an obvious symptom of diabetic patients, and it is the conclusion of the comprehensive function of peripheral neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease in diabetic patients. There is no significant ulceration in the initial stage, only **itching, shrinkage of body fat, **thinning. Patients also often have numbness, pain, loss of limbs, and even intermittent claudication, resting pain, etc., which are the main manifestations of diabetic foot disease in the early stage.

Patients with uremia should follow the doctor's instructions to take medicine on time and control their diet to reduce the appearance of complications.

Diabetic patients due to peripheral neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease combined with excessive mechanical equipment work pressure, which can lead to the influence and deformity of the subcutaneous tissues and joint system software of the feet, resulting in a series of foot problems, from mild cerebral hemorrhage symptoms to obvious ulcers, sensibilities, vascular disease, Charcot osteoarthropathy and neuropathic fractures. Symptoms and complications that occur in the legs can often have devastating effects if they are not adequately managed. Therefore, it will be of great significance to carry out the initial prevention and treatment of foot problems in diabetic patients.

Diabetic complications can seriously endanger the quality of life of patients, and diabetic foot disease is one of the obvious symptoms of diabetic patients, which refers to the loss or pain or ulceration of the feet and acral atrophy caused by vascular disease and neuropathy. Diabetic foot disease is very predisposed to cause symptoms. Arterial occlusion of the lower limbs is the main factor of peripheral vascular lesions in diabetic patients, resulting in insufficient blood **, which will cause some ulcers in the foot organs and make it easier to cause sensations.

The continuous occurrence of sensation will exacerbate the destruction of the foot organs, and in more serious cases, the risk of high amputation will be encountered. Diabetic patients can reduce the risk of diabetic foot disease at the source by actively controlling blood sugar. In addition, the patient should check the feet and shoes daily to detect the hidden structural effects and the irrationality of the working pressure of the shoe machinery and equipment as early as possible.

Once diabetic foot disease occurs, wound care should be improved, wound dressing should be changed on time, and wound dressing should be removed to prevent re-damage.

Due to vascular ischemia of the lower limbs, the foot artery pulse weakens or disappears, the skin temperature decreases, and the foot ** becomes black and ulcerated, accompanied by intermittent claudication. It is manifested as decreased sensation in the feet, sock-like sensory impairment, and a feeling of cotton on the feet, which can lead to foot ulcers.

There may be numbness in the feet, sometimes severe pain, sometimes tissue necrosis, blackening, and severe bleeding.

Walking disorders, there will be ulcers, the soles of the feet are particularly sluggish, ** very dry, and it is very difficult to stand up.

The response of the soles of the feet is relatively sluggish, and it is more difficult to walk, even unable to stand up, and the lower limbs are more numb, ulcers, and in severe cases, amputation.

Check your feet every day to keep your feet clean, keep them dry after washing your feet, and check whether you have redness and swelling, athlete's foot, ulcers, etc., when trimming your nails, don't get too close to ** The water temperature of washing your feet should not exceed 39 degrees to prevent burns, don't scrub your shoes hard, and pay attention to keeping them warm and breathable

Usually pay attention to the dietary structure, eat more light food, do not eat food with higher sugar content and higher calorie content, and at the same time carry out physical exercise and exercise, keep your body in a normal physical condition, and regularly go to relevant regular hospitals for physical examination to prevent diabetes.

Wash your feet every day to maintain the hygiene of your feet, pay attention to keeping warm, trim your toenails properly, rub them evenly on your legs with some skin care products, and massage them appropriately to promote blood circulation.

As we age, our body functions decline, and we are prone to such symptoms.