The professionals of the Independence Hospital, Doctors Mario Bravo, Mónica Roldán and Carolina López, investigate the prevalence of diabetic neuropathy in patients who are treated in this health center.The objective is to develop strategies to improve treatment and prevention.
"We are doing a statistical job, because normally 25 percent of diabetic patients suffer from neuropathy," said Medicine Doctor Mario Bravo, a specialist in anesthesiology and responsible for the pain treatment office at the Independence Hospital.
The nerve damage caused by diabetes is called diabetic neuropathy.It is more common in those who have had the disease for several years and can cause many types of problems, such as numbness in the hands, legs or feet, sharp pain, burning or tingling, among others.
The diabetic foot is one of the most frequent neuropathic complications."We study the patients, we perform the sensitivity tests and we see if there is pain," explained Dr. Brav.In this scientific publication, Dr. Bravsituation that is possible to prevent and avoid."The pain matters to the one who hurts," he said and said that pain should not be accepted as something that necessarily coexists with a surgical procedure or other situations since there are different types of alternatives for pain management.
The research protocol that professionals carry out at the Independence Hospital "includes an interview, detailed medical history and exhaustive physical examDiabetes specialist.He added that "half of the patients know about their diabetes together with a complication of members such as gangrene or amputation."
The research also aims to "know more accurately the status of our patients first and then design strategies to improve the treatment and prevention of neuropathy, which intends to reduce the number of hospitalizations and amputations that are cause of high morbidity and mortality today,"He pointed out.
important
Diabetic neuropathies are a set of nerve disorders caused by many of the common abnormalities in diabetes, such as high blood glucose.
Neuropathy can affect the nerves of the whole body, causing numbness and sometimes pain in the hands, arms, legs or feet, and problems with the digestive tract, the heart, the reproductive organs and other body systems.
The first step in treatment is to make blood glucose levels at a normal level.An adequate level can help prevent or delay the start of additional problems.
Feet care is an important part of treatment.People with neuropathy should review their feet every day in search of injuries.Injuries that are not treated increase the risk of an infected and amputation planting ulcer.
The treatment also includes relief for pain and other medications, as necessary, depending on the type of nervous damage.Smoking increases the risk of problems and feet amputations.