Question to Diabetics

How do you guys go about avoiding foot injuries in a sport that demands so much contact with the legs and feet? Do foot problems/injuries hinder your performance, training, or mental focus in anyway? What do you do to prepare your feet, and care for them, before and after a fight, or hard days training?

Just wondering because I am type 1 Diabetic, and I've had a few foot injuries over the years. For some reason, when the weather is hot or muggy, my feet will sometimes swell up a little bit. My circulation is all good, so I'm not sure what else diabetes has to do with swelling in hot conditions.

Thanks!

Its been awhile since I went over my notes.. Type 1 is 'adult' on set no?

If so theres lots that can be done.

Largely life style and diet.

Hey Mark.
Type 1 is actually juvenile diabetes which is not the one you get from being overweight or unhealthy. Adult onset is type 2 which is more manageable. I've been told that with type 1, you can either have it hereditary, or be unlucky and get it. I was one of the unlucky ones. :)

What are Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes?


Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot use food properly. To understand diabetes, you need to know how your body uses food. The food that you eat turns into sugar in the stomach and intestines. It enters the bloodstream where it is carried to your body's cells. Insulin, a natural hormone made in the pancreas, is needed to help the sugar enter your cells. Insulin is like a key, opening up the cell so it can let sugar in. After entering the cell, the sugar is used for energy. If your body produces little or no insulin, or does not properly use the insulin it does make, you have diabetes.

In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas makes little or no insulin. All people with type 1 diabetes must take insulin, either by insulin injections or from an insulin pump. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes some insulin, but not enough, or the body does not properly use the insulin it does make, which is known as “ insulin resistance.” Type 2 diabetes can sometimes be managed with exercise and a meal plan. People with type 2 diabetes may also need to take diabetes pills and/or insulin. The characteristics of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are shown below.


Type 1 Diabetes
usually diagnosed under 35 years of age
not overweight (slender)
quick start of symptoms (acute)
frequent urination
increased thirst
increased appetite
rapid weight loss
tiredness or fatigue
ketones in urine
10% of all people with diabetes


Type 2 Diabetes
usually diagnosed over 40 years of age
usually overweight
slow start of symptoms or no symptoms at all (chronic)
blurred vision
slow to heal cuts
tingling/ numbness in hands/feet
recurring skin, mouth, or bladder infections
any of the symptoms listed under type 1 symptoms
90% of all people with diabetes

Source: http://www.accu-chek.co.uk/gb/

k-thanks forgot which was which :)

Diebetes can effect the peripheral nervous system including the autonomic systems that control proprioception (where you are in space) and autonomic functions (vascular tone etc).
I'm just speculating but although you have a good supply of blood to the feet certain conditions (heat) may cause an autonomic arterial/venous imbalance which will result in swelling.

Type 1 isn't to bad though, just make sure you check uour feet for foreign bodies/skin lesions etc before and after training and also make sure you give em a good wash after.

Type 2 is a bugger on the feet, it's not been officially analised but it's thought that the diabetic foot costs the NHS more £££ that any other condition. In advanced/uncontrolled states the neuropathic dysfunction causes mayhem with the biomechanics and your tootsies don't work the way they should. Your peripheral vascular system also goes to pot and this results in horrible ulcerations and amputation is very common.

It'll keep me in a job though :@) (training to be a Podiatrist).

I read some very interesting statistics re Diabetes;

Diabetes in the U.S.

The Bad News About Diabetes
Currently 2.6% of the U.S. population, or 5.5 million Americans, are known to have diabetes mellitus; however, the disease remains undiagnosed in about the same number, i.e., another 5.5 million Americans have the disease but are unaware of it or will develop the disease during their lifetime. Over 600,000 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year.

Officially, 34,000 deaths each year are attributed to diabetes, placing diabetes as the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. But, in actuality, approximately 320,000 individuals with diabetes die each year, and diabetes is a significant contributing factor in a large number of these deaths. Seventy-six percent of individuals with diabetes die from vascular disease (cardiovascular disease, stroke).

Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of adult blindness in the U.S. Approximately 5000 individuals with diabetes become blind each year.

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure requiring dialysis in the U.S.

Other than accidents, diabetes is the leading cause of amputations of legs or feet in the U.S. Fifty percent of all amputations in the U.S. are performed on individuals with diabetes.

Heart attacks are 2.5 times more likely in individuals with diabetes. Strokes are 5 times more common.

Source: http://www.kellogg.umich.edu/patientcare/conditions/diabetes.html

Thanks for the new posts, guys!
I'm finding that Thai Liniment helps a lot for your feet after training. I've applying it after hard training/kicking nights and it greatly reduces any bruising or swelling that would usually occur with foot impact.

xnfx...you are probably getting more benefit from the effects of the actual massaging than the linament itself.

My ex fighter James Burgess pictured here is type 1 and has never had any feet probs. He has retired from fighting now but is still training and helps me out with the fighters in the gym.

I think as Dirty dave says it is type 2 that holds the greater risk

Dave,
did your fighter ever have any problems with circulation, feet getting injured easily or foot injuries takine a long time to heal? Also, when training or fighting, did he have any special precautions that he took? Like extra padding or trying to avoid direct contact or anything?

I know when I try to avoid hard direct contact to my feet, it always ends up getting hurt/hit a lot more than usual. :) Probably throws my technique and distance judgement off or something.

Thanks!

I wouldn't worry about your feet too much mate, just make sure that if you do have any neuropathy (loss of sesation) that you always check them after for any foreign bodies or cuts/abrasions.

Diabetic foot problems are associated more with circulation deficiency and/or abnormal load bearing (due to impaired biomech function) not really trauma.
Although it's not unusual for Diabetics to walk round with pins/stones/glass etc stuck in their feet and not feel it!

That's why its important to regularly check em out.

Plus, the benefits of regular excersise (and MT is 'proper' excersice) far outweigh the potential risk of causing injury to your feet.

Podiatry services aren't really available to anyone between 15-65yrs. AFAIK this excludes Diabetics, so, if you ever have any foot problems you should be entitled to go see a Podiatrist for regular check ups via the NHS, ask your GP.

xnfx

He didnt take any extra precautions...just trained hard ( I think he washed his feet occasionally too)

Read some interesting stuff recently.. lots to do with salt and controling sugar levels.

I would suggest diabetics looking at

"You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty" (newer haven't read as much or)
"Your Body's Many Cries For Water"
-F. Batmanghelidj

he explains a few ways that water effects it all but here is a bit of one

"If water is in short supply, the watery bicarbonate solution that is secreted into the intestine cells may not be enough to neutralize all the acid that enters the intestinese to begin the cycle of food digestion. Consequently, one or the other has to stop coming into the intestine, or water has to be delivered to the pancreas in a sufficient amount for the pancrease to perform at least one of its functions. A commensurate reduction of insulin secretion stops the entry of water and nutrients into the peripheral cells in the rest of the body that depend on the presence of insulin for feeding the progress. By this process more water is available in the circulating blood to be delivered to the pancrease to make its watery based bicarbonate solution. When the insulin-stimulated gates are not efficient in delivering water and raw materials into the cells, they begin to wither and die. This is the mechanism behind the degenerative process associated with diabetes."
-You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty

He talks about type I and II etc

This approach costs nothing with no risk to try. Something I would look at myself.

Safer than the drugs they give us and costs nothing..

I think diet plays a key role too..

Only problem drink water makes no one money

Think about a body function that doesn't take water.. we're 70% water..

Milk and diabetes link..

daed milk, I mean processed (pasturized etc) kills the enzimes in milk. Actually its not pasteurized untill there are no enzymes left.

like lactase, galactase etc

that means to try to digest this stuff the pancreas works over time to try to make enzymes to try to digest the crap. Gets way over worked etc

Interesting about the milk.

"The Fungus Link" will have some interesting conections to diabetes too..

Read "The Fungus Link 2" thinking it would be a more updated one. Though it is its also a follow up and is missing some details. If you get one try the first I'd think.

Quite facinating and very logical.

It came highly recommended to me by a source I trust.

I think the book is called "Dr. Burnstiens Diabetes Cure"

Basically he cured himself. Then decided to go to med school to scientifically make sense of how he did it.

I have not read but it comes highly recommended by people who get reults.

http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/diabetes.html

a good article

(metablic typing would certainly be my choice and eating loads of grains like the docs say would not be wise IMO Grains spike insulin more than fruit!!)

If anyone is seriously interested I would also recommend reading
"Lights Out" -T.S. Wiley w/ Bent Formby, Ph. D.

Besides being an amazing look on health and circadian rhythems, artificial light etc it specifically gives some some interesting insights as to the purpose of high blood sugar and what becomes diabeties started as and reasons for etc..

http://www.emofree.com/Articles2/diabetes-emotions-marta.htm?WT.mc_id=N_Jan22_Feature4

"Our gratitude to Marta, from the Czech Republic, for this quality case wherein type II diabetes is materially improved after emotional work with EFT. She says, "After this week of EFT sessions, my client went to see his doctor for a medical check. His blood sugar dropped from an average of 460 to 190 and his blood pressure dropped as well. His doctor had no explanation for this improvement - this was a patient with previous medical report of his pancreas working at only 30%! But the improvement was there and 5 months later still persists."

http://message.axkickboxing.com/?topicgroup=axsportscience

This product has had huge results with diabetics. One guy, type 1 is almost completely off his insulin doses.

If you take keep an eye on levels and consult your doc

"[0020] In some embodiments, the above-described compositions are used for treating, preventing or ameliorating symptoms
associated with an immune system disease. In these embodiments, the composition or supplement at a dosage, concentration
or range described above is administered to an individual in need of such treatment. Examples of immune system diseases
include but are by no means limited to colds, flu, diabetes, allergies, asthma, pneumonia, fibromyalgia, HIV infection,
hepatitis C infection, and multiple sclerosis. In a preferred embodiment, the composition at dosages, concentrations or ranges
described above is used to treat or prevent pneumonia, fibromyalgia or a hepatitis C infection. In a yet preferred embodiment,
the composition or supplement described above is used to treat an immune system disease as described above by
administering the composition at a concentration or dosage as described to an individual in need of such treatment."

Imunozen patent

EXAMPLE 4 Diabetes

[0076] A diabetic who was using insulin 3 times per day for the last 12 years, at an average of 50 units a day pf insulin,
consisting of 20 units in the morning, 20 units in the afternoon and 10 units before bed found that after having taken the
composition daily for 3 weeks that the individual was able to eliminate the night-time units.