Charcot Foot in Diabetes
posted: Mar. 06, 2015.
Charcot Foot in Diabetes
While the hype of the Academy Awards is now dwindling, winning films like Birdman will be viewed by many for years to come. Last week I wrote about Tom Hank’s relatively new diagnosis of type II diabetes. Tom Hanks has been increasing awareness of this disease because of the unfortunate reality that diabetes is affecting Americans at epidemic levels.
After briefly explaining some background information on diabetes last week, the majority of my blog centered on diabetic foot ulcers. Ulceration is an infectious process, but an equally as devastating condition can result from a non-infectious process, called Charcot neuroarthropathy. Charcot is a condition causing weakening of the bones in the foot that usually occurs in people that have nerve damage. If you recall from last week, the most common cause of nerve damage (neuropathy) resulting in pain and/or lack of feeling is diabetes.
Neuropathy not only affects the nerves controlling your sense of feeling, but also autonomic functions, which are the functions that occur without your conscious awareness. When this occurs, your body cannot regulate blood flow to the feet. This can result in bounding pulses, or a forceful/turbulent blood flow, that can wash out bone and cause joints to collapse.
Neuropathy is the driving force behind Charcot due to a second reason as well. When a patient cannot feel his feet, he may not know when he is putting abnormal pressure on certain bones. The nervous system would alert a healthy patient of painful walking habits, but a diabetic with nerve damage (lack of feeling) may not. Like we discussed last week, this increase in pressure over weight-bearing areas is a common cause of ulcers. However, the pressure may be more diffuse and therefore instead of skin breakdown (which leads to ulcers and subsequently infection), the patient may get joint trauma over time (which leads to Charcot).
It is crucial that diabetic patients include a podiatrist as a part of their health team. At Cast a Foot Podiatry in Hempstead, we provide treatment and management of Charcot foot. As a podiatrist, I can spot the formation of Charcot early. Treatment in the early stages tend to be less aggressive than chronic Charcot. If you or anyone you know suffers from diabetes and is experiencing loss of feeling in your feet, call our office today and set up a diabetic foot evaluation.