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HEALTH
WATCH
Mind Your Feet
Custom-made shoes that can save diabetics' feet
from amputation
 So
who cares about a callus on the foot? Nobody, probably,
and Lalitha Kumaraswamy also did not pay it much heed until it started
bleeding. But there was no pain, and she didn't think it was serious enough
to merit a visit to the doctor. By the time it felt bad enough to worry
about it was already too late: the infection had reached her bone, and
her foot had to be amputated.
Lalitha's
is a scare story that has relevance for at least 10 per cent of the 30
million diabetics in India. That's the number of people who suffer from
neuropathy, an offshoot of diabetes, when people lose sensation in their
feet. So they don't feel pain there-the body's warning signal that something
is wrong.
It is to
save patients from such plights that the M.V. Hospital for Diabetes, Chennai,
has designed special footwear in association with the Central Leather
Research Institute. "Every pair is custom-made," says the hospital's
Joint Director Dr V. Viswanathan.
"The
footwear's three layers-polyurethane, sponge and micro-cellular rubber-help
distribute the body weight equally so that there are no pressure points
in the patient's feet. This prevents ulcers, and in those who already
have ulcers, allows better healing."
For measurements
the patient is made to walk on a "mat" with microsensors which
transmit a pressure map of the foot to a computer. A spectrum of colours,
ranging from blue to red indicate the pressure in units of Newton/sq cm.
Points prone to ulcers are identified. The footwear is tailored to suit
the specific characteristics of each foot.
For those
with ulcers, the foot's die is cast and a depression is made in the sole.
"The ulcer rests in air, while the pressure under the feet is evenly
distributed," says Viswanathan.
The diabetologist
attributes the high prevalence of ulcers among Indian diabetics to their
habit of walking barefoot. The custom-made special footwear costs Rs 500
a pair, while those with specially moulded insoles are available for Rs
800. In the UK, similar footwear costs as much as £400 (Rs 2,800).
So here we have a good thing for less-no mean feat.
-Arun Ram
In
Small Doses
 Also
the Mind: What diabetes and high blood pressure do to your body is
bad enough. But now research shows the disease affects your mind too.
A six-year-long study of more than 10,000 40-70-year-olds revealed that
patients with diabetes had distinctly declining mental faculties. But
the slowdown is subtle and often the patient does not realise it. No differences
were seen across different races and communities. The study also did not
find any association between mental decline and smoking, high cholesterol
or use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen.
 Full
of Beans: Dal makhani as healthfood? That bowl of dal, every nutritionist
will tell you, is an excellent source of proteins. But it's far more,
according to the latest Journal of Nutrition. It even has cancer-preventing
qualities. Legumes-beans, peas and lentils-have a high proportion of starch
that is attacked by bacteria in the stomach to produce a chemical called
butyrate, desirable for its cancer-preventing qualities.
 Anti-pain
Step: Forget Brufen. Forget rest. Walk off that pain. That's the latest
advice from a study by doctors at Mayo Clinic in the US. Exercise was
once considered out of question for chronic pain since it was thought
to damage muscles and joints. But doctors find that on the contrary, exercising
releases chemicals called endorphins and enkephalins that block pain signals
from reaching your brain. A less obvious benefit is that exercise helps
alleviate anxiety and depression, conditions that make pain more difficult
to control. Definitely a way to gain with pain.
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