Fractures

[Judy_the_obscure]

I have recently broken a bone in my foot. I know when in the past I've cut myself, it takes longer to heal because of the type 2. Can anyone tell me if it takes longer for the bones to heal for the same reason? Thanks Jude

 

[mist]

Ouch! I think your ok with bones, I think it's just open cuts that take longer. Maybe the blood takes longer to clot because it's so sweet..

Feel better

 

[Brunneria]

I think a lot of it depends on what your blood glucose runs at (both HbA1c and how much variance there is in your blood glucose during a day).

As diabetics we are prone to complications that do involve bone health and circulatory issues, as well as nerve issues, and I understand that keeping blood glucose as near as normal will help to prevent or reduce or slow the development of these complications.

Some people develop something called Charcot Foot, which is a dreadful complication and drastically affects quality of life. But this is an advanced stage complication, and is a very different thing from breaking a single bone in your foot. So if you see references to Charcot foot, please do NOT think that you are automatically headed in that direction!

 

[AndBreathe]

I have recently broken a bone in my foot. I know when in the past I've cut myself, it takes longer to heal because of the type 2. Can anyone tell me if it takes longer for the bones to heal for the same reason? Thanks Jude

Judy - if you read a load of posts on here, I think you could find its quite a personal thing.

Personally, I am a very fast healer and always have been. None of that changed on diagnosis. For some though, they find different; particularly if the have any complications.

I feel only you will be able to gauge if it has taken longer than "normal" if you have broken the same place before, but on the other side, pre-diagnosis, and even then, that's incredibly flawed.

I would suggest you just look after the broken part as well as you can and wait for it to get better. Please do ensure you eat very well during this time, to give yourself as good a chance as you can for a trouble-free healing process. For the avoidance of doubt, I am Not saying straying from a good diet will necessarily lengthen the healing process at all, just saying it would be good to do as much as possible to achieve a good outcome.

 

[JohnEGreen]

I realise that this appertains mainly to T1 but may have some relevance to us T2's as well of this I am unsure.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with low bone mineral density, increased risk of fractures, and poor fracture healing. Its effects on the skeleton were primarily attributed to impaired bone formation, but recent data suggests that bone remodeling and resorption are also compromised. The hyperglycemic and inflammatory environment associated with T1D impacts osteoblasts, osteocytes, and osteoclasts. The mechanisms involved are complex; insulinopenia, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and alterations in gene expression are a few of the contributing factors leading to poor osteoblast activity and survival and, therefore, poor bone formation. In addition, the observed sclerostin level increase accompanied by decreased osteocyte number and enhanced osteoclast activity in T1D results in uncoupling of bone remodeling.

Taken from here