A below-knee amputation is the loss of your lower leg from the top of your tibia (shinbone) down to your foot. Below-knee amputations usually occur as the result of trauma, infection, tumor, severe burns, frostbite or poor blood flow to the limb,...
High blood sugar means the blood glucose level is too high, mainly due to defective insulin action. The hormone insulin must be present in the blood in order for the glucose (the form of sugar present in the body) from foods to enter into the...
High blood sugar, also called hyperglycemia, refers to your body's inability to control blood glucose levels. Normally, most of the food you digest is converted into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood and the body's main source of energy. In...
A leg amputation is the removal of the leg due to complications from different diseases or trauma. According to Medline Plus, reasons for having an amputations include severe trauma, poor blood flow to the leg, infections, tumors, severe burns or...
You may need a foot amputation, or surgical removal of a foot, if one of your feet suffers any serious injury, infection or tissue death. Once you are out of surgery, a comprehensive rehab program can help you heal properly and aid you in training...
Above the knee amputations often result from sever trauma to the knee or lower leg, infections that fail to heal, poor blood flow, tumors, severe frostbite or severe burns. The time it takes to recover from an above the knee amputation varies...
Below-the-knee amputations are the most common in the United States, which has an estimated 1.5 amputees per 1,000 people, according to Orthotics and Prosthetics. Your physician will recommend hip abduction exercises to strengthen the muscles in...
Good pain enhances. Bad pain inhibits. Telling the difference between these pains comes with experience, and being able to consistently minimize inhibiting pain is a worthwhile goal. Athletes who train specifically for lower-body strength grow...
The primary goal of rehabilitation after a lower extremity amputation is restoring strength, and flexibility to your hips and knee. Loss of range of motion and knee contracture is a commom complication of lower extremity amputation. In both above...
Shortening of the muscles and ligaments in your hips and knee is a common complication of transtibial amputation. Prolonged sitting in a wheelchair results in flexed hip and knee contracture. Active participation in your rehabilitation is...
Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism. Diabetics cannot make efficient use of sugar, the body's main source of fuel, usually due to lack of insulin. Insulin is an important hormone regulator of sugar metabolism produced by your pancreas, a large,...
Diabetics must take extra special care of their feet. Swelling in the feet is a signal that there's a problem with circulation in the body, which can lead to neuropathy (nerve damage in the extremities). When this situation becomes serious, it can...
One of the major sources of fuel for cells in the body is the sugar glucose. The concentration of glucose in the blood is normally stable in a well-controlled range of values. If glucose levels are too low, a person will feel weak, lightheaded and...
Most of the pigments that fruits and vegetables have are called anthocyanins. A component of many foods, they are thought to have several beneficial effects, including being antioxidant and increasing the secretion of insulin. Thus, some...
Patients with diabetes frequently suffer from foot ulcers, which are open sores that do not heal. Diabetic foot ulcers are the leading cause of lower leg amputation, reports the journal "American Family Physician". People with diabetes need to...
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) says diabetes can result in a number of foot problems so it's especially important for diabetics to develop diligent foot care habits. Even seemingly minor foot problems can be potentially serious for people...
Diabetes can harden and narrow the arteries, reducing blood flow to the feet. When the feet have less blood to nourish the tissues, cuts and sores can take longer to heal. Left untreated, minor wounds can turn into ulcers or become infected, which...
High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, is a result of too little or inadequate insulin needed to digest the sugars in your bloodstream. Although a common symptom for people with diabetes, frequent episodes of high blood sugar can lead to serious or...
Few people consider their toes among the most important body parts, so it may be surprising to learn how relatively easy it can be to lose one of those lower digits. While elective amputation of the toe is most often performed to inhibit...
Diabetes is a disease where your body cannot make efficient use of sugar or glucose found in food, usually due to not enough insulin. Insulin is an important hormone produced by the pancreas, which regulates blood sugar metabolism. People with...
Diabetes mellitus, which is commonly referred to as diabetes, results from the body's inability to produce enough insulin to properly regulate blood sugar levels. This lack of insulin can cause abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood, but not...
Diabetes begins when the pancreas cannot make enough insulin to transport glucose to the cells, or when cells in body fat, the liver, and muscles cannot use insulin correctly, notes the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney...
Around 21 million Americans have diabetes, the University of Rochester Medical Center reports. Diabetes, an increase in blood glucose in the blood, affects the circulatory system in a number of ways. Circulatory problems from diabetes can cause...
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the hardening and narrowing of the peripheral arteries caused by plaque and resulting in lack of circulation to muscles and organs. According to the P.A.D. Coalition, this disease affects 8 to 12 million...
Diabetics are prone to infections for many reasons. Dry, itchy skin leads to scratching and more breaks in the skin for fungus or bacteria to enter. High blood glucose promotes bacterial and fungal growth, and neuropathy, or nerve damage, means...
A lower extremity amputation refers to the removal of the leg, foot or toes from the body, according to MedLine Plus. Leg amputations are generally considered trans-femoral, or above the knee, and trans-tibial, or below the knee. Lower extremity...
In people without diabetes, the hormone insulin helps glucose -- blood sugar -- enter the cells and act as a source of fuel for the body. In people with diabetes, the pancreas does not produce insulin or the body is not able to use insulin...
Diabetic patients commonly experience sensory loss, or diabetic neuropathies, a family of disorders related to nerve damage. According to the American Diabetes Association, between 60 and 70 percent of people with diabetes experience some form of...
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), ankle fractures occur in 184 per 100,000 persons per year. Ankle fractures can range from a stress fracture, which is a small crack in one of the ankle bones, to bones broken in...
