Foot complications

Complications in general can be minimised by maintaining a good long term blood glucose with as low a level of oscillation as possible.

High blood glucose levels leads to cell damage, and blood glucose oscillation leads to oxidative stress which affects certain cells particularly badly, namely cardio vascular and retinal.

However, and there's always a big however with Diabetes. If your genetic predisposition is such, you may maintain a good blood glucose level and still end up with complications. Whilst Hba1C is a good predictor, it's not the be all and end all of outcomes.


Maintaining a good level of blood glucose in the early days is relatively easy, however many find it less straightforward as they lose their own beta cells. There are a number of approaches that are used to do this including low carb, the Bernstein approach and others.

How easy is it to maintain a good bg level? Well according to the National Diabetes Audit, fewer than 7% maintain an Hba1C of <6.5%, which equates to an average blood glucose level of 7.7 mmol/l and only 27% manage to keep it below 7.5%, which equates to 9.3mmol/l.


So while it might seem easy, far more people find it hard than easy. It's neither straightforward for many, nor simple.

mykey said:

It's my understanding that foot complications are a result of high blood sugar over a long period of time. However, I have a feeling I'm wrong to have such a simple out look on the matter. Because if I'm right, good blood sugar management should prevent any foot complications at all?

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Certainly good bg control will lesson the chances of complications occurring in the feet, but you also need to take sensible precautions like wearing the correct footwear, have your feet checked once a year and look out for cuts & blisters that might appear and go unnoticed.

There's some good information in the following on how you should care for your feet:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Monitoring/Feet/