Over the past 10 years, Allan M. Spiegel, M.D., has successfully treated many patients suffering diabetic neuropathy and non-healing wounds. Call today for an appointment at 727.787.7077 to discuss what hyperbaric oxygen can do for you.

    When the body works correctly, food is digested to make glucose, the energy source for the body’s cells. The body responds to the increase in blood glucose by causing the pancreas to produce insulin. This insulin helps transport the glucose energy into the cells where it can be used. It is a delicate balance—too little insulin and the blood sugar rises, too much insulin and the person can go into coma.

    Currently 60 percent of the adult American population is overweight. The increase in obesity is attributed to dietary patterns and increasingly sedentary lifestyles. As the number of overweight individuals increases, diabetes is becoming epidemic.

    DIABETES TYPES

    In type 1 diabetes, the patient is not able produce enough insulin, usually from birth. The primary treatment for this type of diabetes is careful blood sugar monitoring and the injection of insulin.

    In type 2 diabetes, the patient either loses the ability to produce sufficient insulin or develops a lack of sensitivity to it—the insulin may be there, but the body doesn’t know how to use it. Type 2 diabetes used to be known as “maturity onset diabetes,” but seems to more tied to weight than age. Today’s children are at high risk of getting the disease if they are overweight.

    Type 2 diabetes is often controlled with prescription medications to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Severe or long-standing diabetes may require the same close monitoring and insulin injections as Type 1.

    DIABETES DAMAGE

    High blood sugar destroys the body in a number of ways, including neuropathy (nerves), retinopathy (eyes), nephropathy (kidneys), and atherosclerotic (heart and blood vessel) disease. How chronically elevated blood sugar (hyperglycemia) causes so much damage is not completely understood. Researchers believe that glucose (sugar) becomes irreversibly bound into body proteins, stimulating the body to overproduce free radicals.

    Popular media has talked quite a bit lately about the damage that free radicals do—in this case they target damage to the eyes, nerves, kidneys, and heart.

    Of the long-term complications, neuropathy is one of the most common, Neuropathy refers to the pain, numbness, and reduced motor function diabetics often experience in their legs and feet. As a result of the neuropathy, they are more prone to unnoticed injury and infection.

For more information about using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for diabetes-induced neuropathy, Click here.

    Diabetic patients may have difficulty in healing, particularly for wounds of the feet and legs. Diabetes damaged circulation means the body can’t deliver needed oxygen and nutrients. The resulting infection and gangrene often require limb amputation.

For information of how Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can be used to heal diabetic wounds, Click here.

If you are suffering pain from diabetic neuropathy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help.

For a limited time, Dr. Spiegel will provide a free assessment to determine if you would benefit from this treatment.