“Let’s Save a Limb”: Podiatry and Diabetic Footcare CME and Workshop held

Mysuru: India has a dubious distinction of becoming the capital of Diabetes in the world. The incidence of diabetes is increasing rapidly, and we in India develop Diabetes at least 10 years earlier compared to the same age group in Caucasian counterpart. 

The patients who are treated are only the tip of the iceberg and there are many more living amongst us who have not been diagnosed so far. There are many complications of uncontrolled and untreated diabetes; the most neglected among them is foot complications. 

Every 30 seconds across the world one diabetic patient loses his foot because of diabetes and the chances of that patient losing the other foot is very high in near future. This not only adds up to huge financial burden for the family but also directly or indirectly affects our society and country at a large. 

In this background, a day-long Podiatry and Diabetic Footcare CME and Workshop was conducted at Hotel Quorum in city. This first-of-its-kind programme was conducted in Mysuru by Darla’s Health Care & EN-D-IA in association with Indian Podiatry Association Karnataka, Association Physician of India, Mysore Chapter, Surgical Society of India, Mysore Chapter and Family Physician Association, Mysore District.

The motto of this programme was Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU) and How to treat, How long to treat and when to refer to a specialist in preventing loss of limb. 

This event was to create awareness amongst all the practising Doctors. Emphasis was given on preventing DFU and those who already have ulcer planning in evaluating, managing and appropriate dressing materials used for dressing the ulcer and recommending them proper footwears. It was attended by more than 170 people which included Doctors, Nurses and Podiatrist not only from Mysuru but from Bengaluru, Chamarajanagar, KR Nagar, KR Pet, Mangaluru and Vijayawada. Patients with foot ulcer were examined and treated by experts in the field of Podiatry.  This was live telecast from Darla’s Health Care, Saraswathipuram, to Hotel Quorum where all the delegates had the opportunity to see and learn from the experts. The Organising Secretaries of this programme were Dr. B. Harish Darla and Dr. T.U. Girish.