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This November, the APMA is encouraging people from all over the country to ‘Knock Your Socks Off’ in an effort to prevent diabetes-related foot complications – ranging from discomfort to in some cases, amputation.

The campaign is being directed at the hispanic population of the US as currently 12% of it’s population has diabetes. More importantly, the ethnicity is 66% more likely to develop the disease than any others.

There are various initiatives within the ‘Knock Your Socks Off’ campaign including:

• Diabetes Awareness Quiz
• Diabetes & Your Feet FAQ Posters (also offered en Espanol)
• Guides to Your Diabetes Management Team

In addition to these resources, the best step in preventing one of these complications is to visit your local podiatrist. If you have any further questions whatsoever about the campaign or about any diabetes-related foot health, the experts at We Treat Feet Podiatry would be more than happy to answer them! Simply shoot us a note at info@wetreatfeet.com or call at 410-363-4343.

A recent commentary written by Augusto Sarmiento, M.D. in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery lauds the progress made by podiatrists in recent years.  Dr. Sarmiento notes, “…they [podiatrists] have become experts in the field to the point that it is ludicrous to argue that their qualifications do not allow them to cover such a wide territory.”

Dr. Sarmiento’s analysis concludes that as the healthcare field will generate over 5.6 million new jobs in the next 8 years (due to the Baby Boomer generation growing older) podiatrists are poised to fill a vital role in US Health Care.  This increased reliance on podiatrists’ specialization is backed by data collected from Thomson Reuters which shows podiatrists have perf0rmed more than 316,000 of 30 common foot/ankle procedures  in 2010 while orthopedic surgeons have performed only 97,659.

While Dr. Sarmiento’s claims are not part of an official statement of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, he is one of the organizations most respected members and continues his praise by noting how much podiatric training has improved, citing that podiatrists have “become doctors/surgeons who currently care for patients with all types of musculoskeletal conditions below the knee” and catalogs a variety of complex surgical procedures podiatrists are well-equipped to handle.

To download a complete copy of Dr. Sarmiento’s article, please click here.

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If you have any other questions or wish to schedule an appointment, contact We Treat Feet Podiatry by clicking here to view our various locations and phone numbers!

We Treat Feet! That’s what we do. From the simplest nail problems, to the most complex foot deformities, we provide exceptional care in a kind and compassionate manner. We offer board certified physicians that have spent years learning the intricate structures and functions of the human foot and ankle. No knees or elbows here, only the best foot and ankle care available in Maryland.

From heel pain, bunions, Sports medicine injuries, broken bones, neuromas, hammertoes, and flatfeet to Achilles tendon problems, we have the most modern technology available to help you, including digital x-ray, diagnostic ultrasound, and vascular testing equipment.

Our physician team offers treatments for people of all ages, from infants to seniors. No foot is too big, no problem is too big, because remember, We Treat Feet!

You can check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

American Podiatric Medical Association
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery

This summer at the Olympic games in London, several APMA members made the trip over to London to ensure atheletes from all across the world had feet fit for competition.

Dr. John Connors, DPM, of New York, treated 19 patients from 5 different countries, all of whom participated in the Track & Field portion of the games.  A veteran of treating elite athletic competition – his private practices serve elite and Olympic-level athletes in the US – Dr. Connors still found himself starstruck when meeting Olympic superstars like Gabby Douglas who he deemed, “The Queen of the Olympics”.

“Experiencing the Olmypics as a sports podiatrist was phenomenal”, Dr. Connors said, “I was treated as the foot and ankle expert [podiatrists] truly are.  Doctors from Germany and Spain were seeking my advice on various conditions, and it was great exposure for all of podiatric medicine.”

Jane Anderson, DPM of Chapel Hill, NC and Colleen Schwartz, DPM, of Pleasaton, CA had more pleasure than business scheduled for their trip to the UK.  Anderson had developed a relationship with French soccer player Camille Abiliy through a host program back in 2010 and was invited to hang out with the French soccer team for much of their stay.

Mark Mendeszoon, DPM, from Chardon, OH and who is known as Dr. Zoom for his obsession with everything Track & Field, made a last minute decision to travel to the games but says it’s one he’ll never forget.  He had the opportunity to work with eventual gold medal pole vaulting champion Jen Suhr and was quoted as saying, “I’m blessed to work with athletes at all levels, but London was electric.”

The APMA hopes that it’s members will continue to show their value to elite athletics every 4 years!

First, watch this:

Here are a couple still shots of those…things:

Almost hard to watch, isn’t it?  Well it’s part of a new exhibit called Scary Beautiful and is a collaboration between Leanie van der Vyver and Dutch shoe designer René van den Berg.  Here is the philosophy behind their creation:

Humans are playing God by physically and metaphorically perfecting themselves. Beauty is currently at an all-time climax, allowing this project to explore what lies beyond perfection.

Scary Beautiful challenges current beauty ideals by inflicting an unexpected new beauty standard.

So I think the takeaway here is, next time your find yourself in an uncomfortable pair of heels, think about this poor girl and remember – things could be worse.

Sources:

The Look (Today Show)

United States Surgeon General Regina Benjanmin, MD, MBA congratulated the American Podiatric Medical Association on it’s 100 years of advancing podiatric medicine at the 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting (also know as The National).

She lauded the APMA and the work it’s members do on a daily basis stating, “[The role] today’s podiatrists [play] in the diabetic management team is a vital step to preventing amputation”

The Surgeon General has put an emphasis on encouraging lifestyles of sickness and disease to ones of wellness and prevention and thus continued by saying, “Podiatric care must continue to advance.  You not only save lives, limbs, and health-care dollars, you also preserve dignity and quality of life.”

Dr. Benjamin closed with an interesting story of a young woman who say a man on the beach early in the morning throwing starfish back into the ocean.  When the woman asked the man why he was returning the starfish, one by one, to the water even though he would never be able to save them all as the sun rose, the man responded by picking up a single starfish and saying, “It makes a difference for this starfish”.

“I commend you for the important health-care services you provide everyday,” Dr. Benjamin concluded, “Learn all you can at The National, then go home and find your starfish.”

To view a video of Dr. Benjamin’s speech, you can visit www.c-span.org/events/surgeon-general-speaks-to-podiatric-association/10737433170.

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If you have any other questions or wish to schedule an appointment, contact We Treat Feet Podiatry by clicking here to view our various locations and phone numbers!

We Treat Feet! That’s what we do. From the simplest nail problems, to the most complex foot deformities, we provide exceptional care in a kind and compassionate manner. We offer board certified physicians that have spent years learning the intricate structures and functions of the human foot and ankle. No knees or elbows here, only the best foot and ankle care available in Maryland.

From heel pain, bunions, Sports medicine injuries, broken bones, neuromas, hammertoes, and flatfeet to Achilles tendon problems, we have the most modern technology available to help you, including digital x-ray, diagnostic ultrasound, and vascular testing equipment.

Our physician team offers treatments for people of all ages, from infants to seniors. No foot is too big, no problem is too big, because remember, We Treat Feet!

You can check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

It turns out they do agree on something – in the economic plans set forth by both current President Barack Obama and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, the parties have pushed for the same target rate for controlling federal spending on Medicare.  Where they differ is the path to achieving this target rate and with all the campaign jargon being thrown around during this election time, it’s hard to get a clear view on what each plan actually entails so we’ve clarified 4 main sub-issues within the Medicare debate.

Here are our 4 clarifications:

1.) Hard Cap (Ryan) vs. Soft Cap (Obama) – in cutting costs to get down to their target rate, Paul Ryan’s plan would use a hard cap, or a set spending limit, to cut costs which would only affect those currently under 55 years old.  Obama’s spending cuts on the other hand, would be based on a cost-per-user rate which, if this rate goes over a certain amount (as determined by a Mediare actuary), would trigger cuts across the board.  Obama’s cuts would come as a percentage cut of Medicare’s overall spending and some critics argue it wouldn’t be enough to reach the desired target rate.

2.) What Would Seniors Pay Under the Ryan Plan? – Democrats have argued that seniors will pay more under Ryan’s plan while the Republican camp has stated that seniors could choose some plans and not pay anything at all.  So who’s telling the truth?  Well according to HealthCare Finance News, Ryan’s plan states that all plans would submit bids for how much they would charge to cover a beneficiary’s health care costs and each of these plans would be required to provide a minimum set of benefits equal to the value of those in the traditional program.  The government would pay the premium for the private plan with the second lowest bid, or for traditional Medicare, whichever is lower. Beneficiaries would get a rebate if they chose the lowest-cost plan, but would have to pay the difference if they chose a plan that set premiums higher than the second-lowest.  So basically, the most basic plans for seniors would be what some would consider to be ‘no cost’ but if they wanted to upgrade the plans, the seniors would be responsible for the difference in cost.

3.) What is this $716 billion Medicare cut both sides keep rumbling about? – Well in our opinion this is a bit of a moot point.  In both parties’ plans, $716 billion will be removed from Medicare funding over the next 10 years but this money will be put right back into fixing various inefficiencies in the healthcare system.  From our view, the parties are using this big number as ammunition to attack the other side when it reality they’re both planning to do simliar things with it.

4.) All in all, what is the main difference between the Ryan and Obama spending cuts? – In short, the Obama cuts would depend more heavily on the discretion of various government decision-makers determining the most effective way to cut costs while the Ryan plan would depend more on competition between both private and public healthcare entities to drive down the costs.  Obama’s cuts would be administered on a percentage basis by the government while Ryan’s plan would allow normal competition to drive the costs down and if they do not go below a certain point, would then require government intervention to get the program under the hard cap limit (although he has not stated what parts of the health care program would be cut first)

Any actual movement on this issue is unlikely until a new congress is seated in 2013.  Until then, it remains a hot campaign issue which both parties are trying to spin to their advantage to gain the coveted senior vote.

Article references: HealthCare Finance News

If you have any other questions or wish to schedule an appointment, contact We Treat Feet Podiatry by clicking here to view our various locations and phone numbers!

We Treat Feet! That’s what we do. From the simplest nail problems, to the most complex foot deformities, we provide exceptional care in a kind and compassionate manner. We offer board certified physicians that have spent years learning the intricate structures and functions of the human foot and ankle. No knees or elbows here, only the best foot and ankle care available in Maryland.

From heel pain, bunions, Sports medicine injuries, broken bones, neuromas, hammertoes, and flatfeet to Achilles tendon problems, we have the most modern technology available to help you, including digital x-ray, diagnostic ultrasound, and vascular testing equipment.

Our physician team offers treatments for people of all ages, from infants to seniors. No foot is too big, no problem is too big, because remember, We Treat Feet!

You can check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Scientists, using skin grafts grown from individual patient cell samples, have successfully found a new treatment for chronic diabetic foot ulcers.

The study consisted of 5 men using autologous fobroblast-seeded artificial dermis (AFD) for similar ulcers and found that 3 of the patients had complete wound closure after 12 weeks with the other 2 experiencing 80-90% healing.  Going into the experiment, wound closure of 60%+ would have been considered successful.

The patients remained in the hospitals for 21 days to allow the grafts in the wound areas to completely settle.  No topical wound-healing accelerants were applied.  One instance of skin infection and one of wound pain were the only side affects associated with the procedure.

“Although this study was a preliminary clinical trial with a small sample size, our dermal substitutes may provide a safe and effective treatment of diabetic ulcers,” said Naoki Morimoto of Kyoto Unversity in Japan.

The process did not use animal-derived materials and thus avoided potential risks including viral, prion infection, immune or inflammatory reactions to bovine proteins.

Morimoto also noted that systemic complications in diabetes patients can make it difficult to harvest large amounts of autologous serum.

“In this study, the average amount of autologous serum needed for the preparation of AFD was 11·6 mL and this amount would not be an issue in diabetic patients, even those on haemodialysis,” the studied emphasized.

Sources:

Medical Research News
Springer Healthcare
News-Medical.net