JSMC wound experts offer amputation warning signs during ‘Diabetes Month’
November 20, 2012
HOPKINSVILLE—Every hour, seven people in the U.S. lose a foot or leg due to diabetes, according the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For American Diabetes Month in November, Jennie Stuart Medical Center and its clinical partner for wound care, Healogics, Inc., are alerting the public to this alarming figure about diabetes.
Research by Healogics, a network of academic medical centers, hospitals and professionals focused on treating chronic wounds, shows that diabetes is the leading cause of non-accident, lower-limb amputations.
“Diabetes control is a major factor in wound healing and prevention. Early detection and treatment prevents complications like infection and radically decreases the risk of amputation,” Gerame Wells, MD, FACE, medical director, JSMC Wound Healing Center, says. “Our goal is to heal the chronic wounds and teach patients how to prevent future ulcers and the barriers to healing them.”
Experts estimate that one in 20 diabetics will develop a wound on the legs or feet each year. The risk of amputations can be greatly reduced through foot care programs that include risk assessment, education, treatment of foot problems, and referrals to specialists.
“Education to help people with diabetes manage their disease is an essential component of our treatment plans,” Steve Topping, director, JSMC
Wound Healing Center, says. “It provides them with the knowledge, skills, and tools to reduce the risk of developing a hard-to-heal wound, and will significantly improve the wound healing process.”
State-of-the-art equipment and advanced therapies also play a role in reducing the risk of amputation. Jennie Stuart’s Wound Healing Center offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy, negative pressure wound therapy, bio-engineered skin substitutes, biological and biosynthetic dressings and growth factor therapies.
Physicians at Jennie Stuart’s Wound Healing Center recommend people with diabetes manually inspect their feet each day and seek immediate attention if a lower extremity wound has increased pain, redness or swelling, foul wound odor, or a change in color or change in amount of drainage.
For more information on the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, call the Wound Healing Center at (270) 886-6412.
JSMC is a private, not-for-profit health organization that includes an acute-care medical center; free-standing medical imaging, outpatient surgery, laboratory, rehabilitation, and home health services; and an integrated physician network.
For information on other services, call (800) 887-JSMC or visit www.jsmc.org.
About Healogics, Inc.
Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., Healogics is the largest provider of wound care and related disease management in the country. Healogics and its affiliated companies manage more than 500 Wound Care Centers® in the nation.
Through a connected network of its centers, partner hospitals, academic medical center partners, patients and families, Healogics employs a rigorous scientific approach that explores, tests, finds and develops the clinically proven methods, protocols, pathways and technologies which reintroduce the body's innate ability to heal. For more information, please visit www.healogics.com.
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