Diabetic foot ulcer precursors

Written by Luo Han Ying

Endocrinology

Updated on January 19, 2025

00:00

00:00

Diabetic foot, also known as diabetic foot disease, is a very serious complication among endocrine disorders in diabetes, with the most severe consequence being foot ulceration that cannot heal, leading to amputation, and even causing sepsis. Diabetic foot does not occur without reason; there are many warning signs before its occurrence. For example, the affected foot feels cold, it is painful to walk, and there are abnormal sensations. These signs are actually telling you that the blood vessels and nerves in the foot are already affected. Once any abnormal sensation is noticed, it is essential to seek medical attention at a hospital, and it is crucial to provide early and proactive treatment to nourish the nerves and improve circulation in order to prevent diabetic foot.

Other Voices

home-news-image

Written by Luo Juan

Endocrinology

1min 3sec

home-news-image

What is gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes, also known as pregnancy-induced diabetes, generally refers to a condition diagnosed during pregnancy where varying degrees of high blood sugar levels are detected for the first time. This includes some cases where glucose intolerance or diabetes was undiagnosed before the pregnancy. Most patients see their blood sugar levels return to normal after delivery, but regardless of whether the high blood sugar normalizes post-pregnancy, it is considered gestational diabetes. Currently, the diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes include a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test. If the fasting blood glucose level is greater than or equal to 5.1 mmol/L, the blood glucose level after one hour is greater than or equal to 10.0 mmol/L, and the blood glucose level after 120 minutes is greater than or equal to 8.5 mmol/L, then gestational diabetes can be diagnosed.

home-news-image

Written by Chen Li Ping

Endocrinology

1min 13sec

home-news-image

What is gestational diabetes like?

Gestational diabetes refers to diabetes that appears during pregnancy, or is detected during pregnancy, or is an abnormal glucose tolerance of any degree. Gestational diabetes affects both the pregnant mother and the fetus. Although the mortality rate of pregnant women with gestational diabetes has significantly decreased, complications are still quite common. It may increase the rate of spontaneous miscarriages and preterm births for fetuses. Secondly, it can cause fetal or neonatal death, and intrauterine growth retardation. Thirdly, it leads to excessive amniotic fluid and macrosomia, and may result in neonatal polycythemia, fetal malformations, neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal hypoglycemia, as well as neonatal hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia. For the mother, it can lead to pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome, infections during pregnancy or childbirth, and in severe cases, diabetic ketoacidosis.

home-news-image

Written by Zhao Dan

Orthopedics

2min 5sec

home-news-image

Gestational diabetes standards

Before addressing this question, let's first clarify another concept: if diabetes is diagnosed before pregnancy, this is referred to as pre-existing diabetes in pregnancy, which is different from gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes refers to cases where there is no pre-existing diabetes diagnosis before pregnancy, but abnormal blood glucose levels are detected after becoming pregnant. Generally, a glucose screening test is conducted between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy. Currently in China, there are two approaches: the one-step and the two-step methods. The one-step method involves a direct 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test. However, most of China uses the two-step method, which starts with a 50-gram glucose challenge test. If the blood glucose level one hour after eating is greater than or equal to 7.8 mmol/L, a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test is recommended. For the 75-gram glucose test, the fasting blood glucose level should generally be less than or equal to 5.6 mmol/L, one hour post-glucose intake should be 10.3 mmol/L, two hours post-glucose should be 8.6 mmol/L, and three hours post-glucose should be 6.7 mmol/L. If two or more of these values exceed the diagnostic criteria, gestational diabetes can be diagnosed. If only one value is abnormal, impaired glucose tolerance can be diagnosed. It is recommended that anyone who experiences abnormal blood glucose levels during pregnancy undergo another 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test six months post-pregnancy to determine if blood glucose levels are still abnormal and whether treatment should continue.

home-news-image

Written by Zhang Lu

Obstetrics

47sec

home-news-image

How to Control Gestational Diabetes

During pregnancy, if the pregnant woman has diabetes, it is essential to control blood sugar reasonably. Otherwise, high blood sugar can seriously affect both the fetus and the pregnant woman, and in severe cases, it can cause diabetic ketoacidosis in the pregnant woman and fetal death in utero. Diabetes in pregnant women can be intervened in the following ways: First, through dietary control, eat less sugary foods, such as sweets, pastries, and fruits. Second, it is necessary to be moderately active during pregnancy, taking a walk or maintaining 5,000 to 10,000 steps daily, which helps in the consumption of glucose in the body. Third, if the above two methods are ineffective, insulin should be used to control diabetes.

home-news-image

Written by Chen Xie

Endocrinology

1min 36sec

home-news-image

Screening time for gestational diabetes

For women without high-risk factors, the general practice is to conduct a 75g glucose tolerance test between 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy, measuring fasting blood glucose, blood glucose one hour after glucose ingestion, and blood glucose two hours after glucose ingestion. The fasting blood glucose should not exceed 5.1 mmol/L, blood glucose one hour after glucose ingestion should not exceed 10.0 mmol/L, and blood glucose two hours after glucose ingestion should not exceed 8.5 mmol/L. For women with high-risk factors, it is advisable to screen for blood glucose levels during the first prenatal visit to detect gestational diabetes early, control blood sugar levels, and reduce the occurrence of complications. Who are the women considered to be at high risk? Those who have a history of gestational diabetes, history of delivering a macrosomic infant, are obese or have polycystic ovary syndrome, have a family history of diabetes among first-degree relatives, are found to have positive fasting and ketone bodies early in pregnancy, have a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriages, have a history of fetal anomalies and stillbirths, and those who have a history of delivering newborns with respiratory distress syndrome. These women need to undergo diabetes screening after becoming aware of the pregnancy to detect any abnormality in blood sugar levels early and treat accordingly.