FOOTS

Diabetic Foot Care

Introduction to Diabetic Foot Care

Diabetes Mellitus is a condition in which either your pancreas does not produce enough insulin or it produces sufficient insulin but the cells of your body are unable to use the insulin. Foot Complaints are the leading cause of hospitalization of people with diabetes. It is estimated that 15% of all diabetics will develop a serious foot complaint at some time. People with diabetes can develop a variety of foot complaints, which can result in severe cases, to an amputation of a toe, foot or leg.
However, with regular visits to a chiropodist or podiatrist along with patient education, appropriate footwear and daily foot inspections, one can prevent any serious complaints.
The three main complications associated with diabetes are: -

• Neuropathy (diminished sensation)
• Poor circulation
• Decreased resistance to infection. 

NEUROPATHY

Neuropathy can simply be defined as a complete or partial loss of sensation in the feet and legs. A patient may not be able to feel a soft touch or a sharp sensation on their lower limbs. Therefore, the patient is unable to recognize and prevent injuries due to neuropathy. This can result in severe trauma and injury to the feet.
A chiropodist may test if a diabetic patient has neuropathic feet by testing if the patient can feel soft touch, sharp touch and use a vibrating fork to test if the patient can feel the sensation of vibration against their skin.
Neuropathy can also lead to sharp shooting pains in the feet. These can be very painful and usually occur at night. It can also cause muscle weakness in the foot, which can result in foot drop. Foot drop is when a foot can not be raised during walking. This may lead to bunions, corns and calluses

FOOT CIRCULATION

People with diabetes often suffer from peripheral vascular disease. This can result in cramps in the calves. This is known as intermittent claudication. The temperature of the skin may decrease and there may be a change in color of the skin. A decrease in the flow of blood to the feet produces inadequate delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the foot. This can lead to serious consequences if a foot is injured, as healing will be impaired. For this reason, diabetic patients are urged to take better care of their feet. Especially elderly diabetic patients, as infections can spread rapidly through their feet.

ULCER....

An ulceration is usually a painless sore on the bottom of the foot. It can be present on any aspect of the foot or under a corn, callus or blister. Trauma in the form of heat, cold and shoe pressure can result in an ulcer. Force or friction against the bottom of the foot can also lead to pressure ulcers. Neuropathy allows an ulcer to develop without the patient without a patient noticing it. This is known as a neuropathic ulcer.

On the other hand, a very painful ulcer can be due to poor circulation and is known as an ischemic ulceration. Treatment is dependent upon early diagnosis. A chiropodist may use padding to redistribute pressure away from the lesion. Use of dressings, antiseptics and orthotics may also be used to treat an ulceration. In severe cases, gangrene may develop, this may result in surgery to the foot.
With your chiropodists help, small cracks in the skin, corns and calluses can be treated before they get infected. The chiropodist will pare down the hard skin or corn at a regular interval. This will prevent the build up of pressure on the lesions, which can lead to an ulcer.
Other measures include, a temporary casting of the foot to redistribute pressure away from a lesion. The chiropodist may also work in close conjunction with your GP to prescribe appropriate antibiotics for you.
The prevention of ulcers is a joint partnership between the patient and the chiropodist. The patient must check his/her feet on a regular basis for cracks in the skin and examine the insoles of the shoes for any foreign objects such as glass or pebbles. Eating the appropriate food and limiting alcohol intake and smoking are all factors that are extremely important. Most of all regular diabetic check ups to monitor the diabetes is very important. The chiropodist will ensure that your lesions are treated appropriately and if there is a need for shoe or insole modification, the chiropodist will endeavor to correct it


FOOT WEAR

Inappropriate footwear can lead to serious diabetic foot complaints such as ulcers and infections. It is vital to wear appropriate footwear. Diabetics should check their shoes for any sharp objects such as glass and should also check for torn lining. New shoes should only be worn for a few hours at a time to begin with.

SKIN CHANGES 

 Diabetes can affect nerves in your feet that control sweating. This can cause the skin on the feet and on the legs to become very dry. In severe cases, this can lead to fissures. Fissures are small cracks in the skin, which allow an entry portal for bacteria and can lead to infections. Therefore, moisturizing the feet and legs is essential for diabetic patients. 

 What your Chiropodist will do:

• To provide regular foot check ups
• To treat any foot complaint you may have.
• Provide footwear advice and general foot care tips. 

What you should not do

• Never soak your feet for long periods of time.
• Never perform any bathroom surgery, for example cutting corns or calluses with a razor blade.
• Do not use any from of chemical treatment for corns, calluses or verucaes.
• Never allow a lesion to go untreated.
• Never ignore any foot pain.
• Avoid extremes of temperature, very warm and very cold conditions can lead to skin complaints.
• Do not use hot water bottles on your feet.
• Never walk barefoot as you are at a risk of getting a cut, which will subsequently become infected.
• To provide custom made insoles if necessar

What you should do

• Keep blood sugar levels under control.
• Wash your feet daily. Dry them carefully, especially in-between the toes.
• Cut toe nails straight across and file the edges gently.
• Check the insides of your shoes daily and make sure that the seam or stitches of the shoes have not come lose

NEWS

'Friending' students disallowed

MIAMI - A FLORIDA school district has told teachers not to be 'friends' with students on social networking sites and to be very careful in using electronic communication to avoid legal and workplace problems.
Lee County school officials issued the guidelines on Monday at the start of the 2010-2011 school year, warning teachers not to communicate with students via Internet sites.
'It is inappropriate for employees to communicate, regardless of the reason, with current students enrolled in the district on any public social networking website,' the guidelines said. 'This includes becoming 'friends' or allowing students access to personal web pages for communication reasons,' it said.
Robert Dodig, who is in charge of the county's legal affairs office, said, 'Too many people may not realise what they do in their private life online can come back to cause issues in their professional life, especially in public education.' Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are increasingly being used by students and institutions, and many educators have used the sites to organise activities, the guidelines noted.
Teachers were instructed to let their supervisors know if they are using a social networking site for reasons related to their work, and educators were asked to think twice before posting information or photographs.
'Never post information about students - even something as innocent as a student's name - as student information is considered private and confidential,' it said. Authorities said they were not trying to restrict teachers' use of social networks, so much as to protect the teachers when they do

ESSAY

QUESTION = Student sometime have problem in deciding which university they want to apply t. Suggest 3 factor that student should consider when applying to university. You may include some of following aspect course, facilities. You should write at least 350 words.
  



  In this modern era, many student are unable to decide which university or college they want to apply by them self. This is because many college to chooses. Factors that student should consider when apply any university or college are the courses that offered and facilities provided in the universities. Most important factor is qualified experience lecturer, the fees that suitable for the course also important to prevent student from get strees.

  For the first point is, student should choose the suitable course or get any suggestion from internet or parents. If the student had misschoosen about the course than they will get stressed and give up to continue the study.

  Furthermore, the student should know the facilities that have been provided by the universities such as an auditorium, transport provided, a comfortable hostel for student and the important facilities is the environment to student study. Other than that, the fees also have been considered by student.

  In addition, an experience and qualified lecturer also have give attention to student when want to choose any universities. It is because the good lession come from good experience lecturer.

  The conclusion from this situation, student should consider the right course so that in future they wont ger any regret or trouble such as to get job vacation.

NEWS

China smoking as serious as Sars

BEIJING - THE head of the World Health Organization in China said on Tuesday widespread smoking in the Asian nation should be given the same attention as an outbreak of the deadly Sars disease.
Timed to coincide with the release of new data on adult tobacco use in China by the country's centre for disease control, Michael O'Leary said the Asian nation's widespread tobacco addiction was a worry.
'China's longstanding high prevalence of tobacco addiction deserves the same level of concern as an outbreak of Sars or H1N1,' he said in an email to AFP. 'Chronic conditions now constitute the lion's share of the burden of disease in China, and tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of death and disease.'
A total of 13,354 people across China took part in the survey from October last year to May 2010 which also revealed that 70 percent of non-smoking adults were exposed to secondhand smoke in a typical week.
China is the world's biggest consumer of tobacco, and up to one million people in the country die every year from lung cancer or cardiovascular diseases directly linked to smoking. Authorities have pledged to ban smoking in all indoor, public places by next year, but activists and experts have raised doubts that the rules can be implemented in a country where law enforcement is weak.
In an indication of the extent of the problem, 56.8 per cent of all male doctors in China smoke and some hospitals are not tobacco-free, state media reported earlier this year

EPILEPSY

 

 

 

 

 

 

what is epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a condition of the nervous system, It can be scary watching someone have an epileptic seizure. The person may lose consciousness or seem unaware of what's going on, make involuntary motions (movements the person has no control over, such as jerking or thrashing one or more parts of the body), or experience unusual feelings or sensations (such as unexplained fear). After a seizure, he or she may feel tired, weak, or confused.
People have seizures when the electrical signals in the brain misfire. The brain's normal electrical activity is disrupted by these overactive electrical discharges, causing a temporary communication problem between nerve cells.
Just because someone has a seizure does not necessarily mean that person has epilepsy, though. Seizures can be triggered in anyone under certain conditions, such as life-threatening dehydration or high temperature.
But when a person experiences repeated seizures for no obvious reason,
that person is said to have epilepsy.
Many people develop epilepsy as children or teens. Others develop it later in life.
For some people with epilepsy (particularly kids), the seizures eventually become
less frequent or disappear altogether.

What Causes Epilepsy?

• a brain injury, such as from a car crash or bike accident
• an infection or illness that affected the developing brain of a fetus during pregnancy
• lack of oxygen to an infant's brain during childbirth
• meningitis, encephalitis, or any other type of infection that affects the brain
• brain tumors or strokes
• poisoning, such as lead or alcohol poisoning

Living With Epilepsy

• Stay calm.
• Help, but don't force, the person to lie down on his or her side, preferably on a soft surface, and place something soft under the person's head.
• Take the person's glasses or backpack off and loosen any tight clothing near the neck.
• Don't restrain or hold the person.
• Move objects, especially sharp or hard ones, away from the person.
• Stay with the person or make sure another friend or trusted person stays with him or her.
• Talk with the person in a calm, reassuring way after the seizure is over.
• Observe the event and be able to describe what happened before, during, and after the seizure.
• Do not place an object into the person's mouth during a seizure.

Alzheimer's Disease   

Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually even the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with Alzheimer’s, symptoms first appear after age 60.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia among older people. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning—thinking, remembering, and reasoning—to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Estimates vary, but experts suggest that as many as 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer.

In 1906, Dr. Alzheimer noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman
who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included
memory loss, language problems, and unpredictable behavior.
After she died, he examined her brain and found many abnormal
clumps (now called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles
of fibers (now called neurofibrillary tangles).
Plaques and tangles in the brain are two of the main
features of Alzheimer’s disease.
The third is the loss of connections between nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. 

Signs and Symptoms 

1. Memory loss

2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks                   

3. Problems with language                                                          

4. Disorientation to time and place

5. Poor or decreased judgment       

6. Problems with abstract thinking                     

7. Misplacing things

8. Changes in mood or behavior

9. Changes in personality

10. Loss of initiative

NAILS.......

INTRODUCTION...

The fingernail is an important structure made of keratin that has 2 purposes. The fingernail acts as a protective plate and enhances sensation of the fingertip. The protection function of the fingernail is commonly known, but the sensation function is equally important. The fingertip has many nerve endings in it allowing us to receive volumes of information about objects we touch. The nail acts as a counterforce to the fingertip providing even more sensory input when an object is touched.


Nail Growth

Nails grow all the time, but their rate of growth slows down with age and poor circulation. Fingernails grow faster than toenails at a rate of 3mm per month.It takes 6 months for a nail to grow from the root to the free edge. Toenails grow about 1 mm per month and take 12-18 months to be completely replaced.


Nail Structure

 
The structure we know of as the nail is divided into six specific parts - the root, nail bed, nail plate, eponychium (cuticle), perionychium, and hyponychium. Each of these structures has a specific function, and if disrupted can result in an abnormal appearing fingernail.

 

 

 

Fingernails: What to look for

Your nails — composed of laminated layers of a protein called keratin — grow from the area at the base of the nail under your cuticle. As new cells grow, older cells become hard and compacted and are eventually pushed out toward your fingertips.
Healthy nails are smooth, without ridges or grooves. They're uniform in color and consistency and free of spots or discoloration. Nails can develop harmless conditions, such as vertical ridges that run from the cuticle to the tip of the nail. Vertical ridges become more prominent with age. Nails can also develop white lines or spots due to injury, but these eventually grow out with the nail.
Not all nail conditions are normal, however. Some are signs of diseases that require medical attention. See your doctor if you notice these changes in your nails:

• Yellow discoloration
• Separation of your nail from the nail bed (onycholysis)
• Indentations that run across your nails (Beau's lines)
• Nail pitting
• Opaque or white nails
• Curled nails