Guidelines call for optimal medical treatment (OMT) first for patients with symptoms of leg artery disease. There is no better example of the superior benefits of OMT vs usual care. Patients who receive OMT for diabetes live 8 years longer and have one third as many amputations. What do you think about this difference?
This is a crucial issue. My uncle, who was diabetic from my earliest memories in the 1940s, had a leg amputated at the ankle in his 50s. By 55, he was dead. My mother-in-law, lost a leg to diabetes in her early 80s and never lived independently after that, being afraid to use her prosthesis to walk. An acquaintance also lost both legs in his 70s. My boyfriend had type 2 diabetes, with diabetic retinopathy, and died a finger and toe at a time, until gangrene finally killed him at age 59, just before kidney failure probably would have. My nephew and his cousin from the other side of his family, both in their early 30s, have type 1 diabetes. Both are slender; in fact, weight loss was the symptom that led to my nephew's diagnosis. So far, so good. Medical treatment for diabetes is much better now, but patients must comply and they must be their own advocates for best practices.
This is a crucial issue. My uncle, who was diabetic from my earliest memories in the 1940s, had a leg amputated at the ankle in his 50s. By 55, he was dead. My mother-in-law, lost a leg to diabetes in her early 80s and never lived independently after that, being afraid to use her prosthesis to walk. An acquaintance also lost both legs in his 70s. My boyfriend had type 2 diabetes, with diabetic retinopathy, and died a finger and toe at a time, until gangrene finally killed him at age 59, just before kidney failure probably would have. My nephew and his cousin from the other side of his family, both in their early 30s, have type 1 diabetes. Both are slender; in fact, weight loss was the symptom that led to my nephew's diagnosis. So far, so good. Medical treatment for diabetes is much better now, but patients must comply and they must be their own advocates for best practices.