World Diabetes Day – November 14 2010 – Foot Screening
World Diabetes Day takes place every November 14th. Diabetes is a serious chronic disease. It is estimated that 250 million people worldwide have diabetes (about 6% of the adult population between 20 -79 years). This number is expected to reach 380 million by 2025, (7.1% of the adult population)
Every 30 seconds a leg is lost to diabetes somewhere in the world!
Many diabetic foot ulcers and amputations can be prevented
Starting this week podiatrists nationwide will be promoting foot health awareness in various ways as their contribution to preventing the complications of Diabetes.
Check your local press for details of free screenings, talks, fun walks etc., often with Diabetes SA.
In our practice free screenings can be booked via Lauretta. 011 726 6363.
Nationwide contact the South African Podiatry Association; 011 7943297
Screening is a short observation of key signs to identify the risk level of your feet.
Not every person with diabetes is at risk, but some are and have no idea that they are.
If you know that you are at risk, the podiatrist will become a key person in your life.
Act now – your life might depend on it!
Take this opportunity to finf out your risk status.
Neglect your feet and patients at your peril!
Neglected feet can become a serious problem. So to0 can neglected patients or visitors using this website. Welcome back to all of you – feet as well as people!
Good time management has never been one of my strengths and over the past 2 months I have had a struggle to make time for this fascinating communication channel with my blog visitors as well as the core professional duties of my daily practice and some additional duties on behalf of the podiatry profession.
So, look out for replies to all the comments posted. Do keep posting comments – the warning is only there because one person posted a comment with too much personal detail – failing to realise that what you post EVERYBODY reads.
Anyway, what has been going on? The “chairpersonship!” of the SA Podiatry Association(SAPA) is proving to be an enormous task; fortunately the Executive are really dedicated people and have taken up the challenge of a new (& very different chair with enthusiasm). We are developing a new website that will be more interactive for podiatrists and public. You should see podiatry visibilty in future.
Podiatry has been featured on SABC 3 with Noleen, Talk Radio 702 with Redi, chai fm community radio in Johannesburg and I understand there is something in the November edition of ELLE magazine.
The University of Johannesburg has also been active, honouring the top achievers of 2008 – guess where the top podiatry student is – yes, you’re right, emigrated to Australia!
By the way, it’s not too late to apply for a place on the course for 2010. However, tomorrow sees the start of the exams – more time pressure as I am an examiner and moderator for a couple of subjects.
Then come some big events. First up is the birth of our second grandchild, due in 2 weeks, followed by a trip to Harrogate in the UK for the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists Annual Conference – I am presenting a Poster on the work we have done at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Paediatric Rheumatology clinic.
Meanwhile, in the practice recently a lady with a classic case of neglected feet was brought in by her daughter. The lady lives in Limpopo Province north of Johannesburg; she had no idea how she damaged her foot so badly that the tendons were showing through the top of her foot! She felt no pain either (undiagnosed neuropathy?).
X rays revealed the bones inside were infected and had collapsed to create a very fat, swollen shape. (Charcot neuroarthropathy). As there was no pain it had been left under the care of the patient and her GP. Basically because the lady had poor access to health care, but more importantly no insight into her diabetes what would you expect? A classic example of poor communication all round.
Talking of communication, look out for activities associated with World Diabetes Day on November 14th. Check what your local podiatrist or clinic is doing. There is a big event in KZN, with a SAPA presence, there are events in Cape Town too.
As the Southern Hemisphere is into “exams fever,” I’ll leave you with this thought from a postcard that I bought in Oxford some years back.
Why study?
The more I study, the more I know.
The more I know, the more I forget.
The more I forget, the less I know.
So why study?
South African Podiatry Association
The Biennial Congress of the South African Podiatry Association took place this last weekend.
The first two days were a Biomechanics Boot Camp taught by renowned Australian podiatrist Craig Payne and today there were presentations by local podiatrists on rheumatology, diabetes, paleo-anthropology and education.
Most podiatrists routinely perform biomechanical examinations on their patients – but this Boot Camp was something else – it has changed my thought paradigms and will alter the way I examine my patients and any orthotic treatment I decide to use. (I know this is true for every one else who attended the Boot Camp).
There was another interesting development at the Congress, I was elected Chairman of the South African Podiatry Association for the next two years.
This is a real privilege and challenge as podiatry in South Africa needs to have a much higher profile and take a more prominent place in the South African health care scene.
Expect to see much more about feet and foot care in the future.
Fitting Children’s Shoes – Again!
Fitting children with shoes can be really difficult and is often unpleasant for all involved. That includes brothers, sisters and fathers hanging around nearby! This means that the responsibility for getting the correct usually lies with Mum. The trauma increases due to the fact that in South Africa, there are virtually no shops who know how to measure children’s feet and fit the correct size of shoe.
Some stores have had measuring boards available in the shoe section for some years, but using it was left to the customer. At the same time there was no guarantee that the size system on the board matched the size system of the shoes. Anyone who has bought sports shoes/trainers recently will know that they have three or four different size numbers on the tongue of the shoe. This is because the shoes are made in Asia for sale all over the world where the basic unit of measurement differs – including different centimetre units.
In an attempt to bring some order and science into the art of shoe fitting, the South African Podiatry Association (SAPA) has been working with various manufacturers and retailers to establish standards for footwear in this country. There is a committee of experts headed by a podiatrist who has done ground-breaking original research into the feet of South African women. This committee assesses lasts(the plastic shape around which a shoe is built) and footwear design, against a checklist based on this scientific research.
One retailer is Woolworths and if you buy your child’s shoes there – although you will have to fit them yourself – you will see certain styles have the SAPA approval logo on the green tag. Look out for other large retailers getting involved in 2008.