Amputations Due To Diabetes Fell More Than Half Since Mid 1900s.

The AP  (1/25) reports, "Foot and leg amputations were once a fairly common fate for diabetics, but new government research" found that "the rate has fallen by more than half since the mid-1990s," decreasing "from more than 11 to about 4 per 1,000 people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday." In the study, investigators "checked national hospital discharge records for 1988 through 2008, looking for patients aged 40 and older who had lost a toe, foot or leg to diabetes." The AP adds, "While diabetes has been growing more common in the United States - driven by obesity-related Type 2 - researchers have noted recent declines in some of the other most dreaded complications, including blindness and kidney failure." The study  was published in Diabetes Care.

        CQ  (1/25, Adams, Subscription Publication) reports, "The study authors - five officials affiliated with the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation - could not clearly identify why the rate of amputations declined among diabetics. But because the number of amputations decreased among diabetics but not non-diabetics, the officials theorized that the decline may be partly attributable to better diabetes care management or the reduction of risks that could lead to amputation." Despite the decline, however, "the rates of diabetes-related amputations remained higher among patients who are 75 years old or older, African-Americans and men."

        MedPage Today  (1/25, Fiore) adds, "Among diabetes patients ages 40 and up, hospital discharge rates for nontraumatic lower-extremity amputation fell an average of 8.6% per year between 1996 and 2008 (P<0.01)." MedPage also reports that the researchers "assessed data from the 1988-2008 National Hospital Discharge Survey and the National Health Interview Survey." HealthDay  (1/25, Preidt) also reports the study.