The Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) diabetic centre had about 18,500 patient visits last year from people suffering from diabetic foot related problems, an official disclosed yesterday.
“According to International Diabetes Federation, Qatar has approximately 23% of the population as diabetics and is ranked eighth in the world in prevalence of diabetes. Out of that, 15% will get possible neuropathy or loss of sensation of the limbs,” said Dr Talal Khader Talal, head of podiatric services, HMC.
“At our centre, we had about 18,500 visits last year on account of foot related ulceration, specifically due to diabetes and most of them had ulceration or some form of cuts on their feet.
“About 90% of them have neuropathy which is the precursor for the development of ulceration.
“They develop cuts on their feet but are not aware of it.
“It develops into deeper and deeper infection and that created many issues,” said Dr Talal.
According to the official, one major problem is that most such patients reach the hospital a bit late.
“One of our main observations is that our patients reach us a little bit late and that makes the healing process slightly complicated. It delays the recovery and the healing process and may lead to partial amputation or at times complete amputation of the limb,” the physician said.
“The normal healing time of an ulcer, if brought in early, is a few weeks but if it is delayed and most of them are, it can run into several months.
In some cases, it can be for a year or so. Moreover the treatment of ulcer is very expensive as caring for one can cost $56,000 in many countries around the world and if it is infected, the costs can even be higher,” he said.
The official said that HMC provides the best possible treatment for the patients.
“We have several types of treatments which are very effective and ensures recovery very fast.
“We have treatment methods such as electrical shock waves, laser healing treatment among several other methods. We also have different teams specifically defined for all the types of treatments. Several units are involved in the treatment.”