Really random question but it just confuses me how it ends up causing someone to lose a body part
In: 9014
A doctor here, and I’ll keep it simple for you all.
It’s a bit long because I tried to use the simplest language I can, so please bear with me. Also, do pardon the grammatical/spelling errors if any.
In diabetes, we’ve got higher than normal level of sugars in blood. Due to these high levels of sugar, some complicated reactions take place in the body which also cause the levels of cholesterol to rise. This excess cholesterol is deposited in our arteries. (Arteries are blood vessels which carry blood full of oxygen to different organs).
This cholesterol deposition causes arteries to become narrow. Sometimes it can lead to an artery getting completely blocked. Due to this, the group of cells that the artery gives blood to don’t receive oxygen (because there’s no blood reaching them), and those cells die.
Now, all living cells in our body need oxygen to survive. And our nerves are made up of these cells. Hence, nerves need oxygen to survive too.
In diabetes, the nerves which supply our toes start dying because the arteries supplying them with oxygen rich blood are blocked.
Since there are no nerves alive left in our toes, therefore we won’t be able to feel a thing in our toes.
So if we get a cut injury or a prick injury, we won’t feel it. And since we won’t feel it therefore we’ll not even know we’ve got an injury.
We all know what happens to neglected wounds and injuries. Bacteria start growing in the neglected wound. And since our blood already has high level of sugars, the bacteria have more than enough nutrition.
(Edit): The tiny blood vessels supplying the tiny muscles and bones in our toes, they get blocked too. As a result, the muscles and bones die too, further providing a very fertile ground for bacteria to grow.
These bacteria grow and infect our toes. Ultimately we would have to chop off our toes. And if this problem is neglected for long enough, this bacterial infection spreads through the foot and leg. And the only way of preventing further spread is chopping off the affected part.
Latest Answers