2005: EVERY 30 SECONDS THERE IS A SURGICAL AMPUTATION
2013: EVERY 20 SECONDS THERE IS A SURGICAL AMPUTATION.
2014: EVERY 30 MINUTES THERE IS A LOSS OF LIMB DUE TO LANDMINES
Diabetes is a truly dreadful disease. It starts off slowly, imperceptibly. Symptoms creep in gradually, not affecting us too much even if not yet diagnosed by a medical practitioner. In fact, many people live with diabetes without realising that they already have it.
A destructive life-style, even if not realized, is probably the main cause of diabetes. Factors such as too much sugar intake, obesity, smoking, too much alcohol etc. Of course there is, like with all ailments and diseases, a genetic pre-disposition: One person can get away with much more abuse before the symptoms show up than another person. But that’s a gamble most people would not take if sufficiently informed of the consequences. (Often even that is not enough for some.)
Diabetes itself is already a difficult ailment to control, but its ugly relatives in the form of kidney, pancreas, eyesight, hearing impairment etc that may eventually result in “dark legs”, open wounds and neuropathy with lots of pain are much worse than being a diabetic in the initial stages. In the final stages, losing a limb is of course a catastrophic deterioration of quality of life, income loss due to disability, lack of mobility, depression … and a host of other unpleasant consequences.
The fundamental cause in the body is a poor blood circulatory system and many organs and functions are now impaired because of lack of blood, ie oxygen supply. In fact, wherever micro-circulation is important in the body (answer: everywhere!) such ailments can “pop out”. Not very medically expressed, but in the end it is no fun and needs no medical terminology as our “normal life” slips away dangerously and irreversibly.
More often than not it ends in the amputation of an affected limb. Imagine the implications.
