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Special
shoes and inserts do not prevent the foot ulcers commonly
experienced by diabetics, according to researchers at the
VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington
in Seattle.
"The
results were surprising," said Gayle E. Reiber, PhD,
of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and lead investigator
of the study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association. "The popular notion among foot specialists
is that therapeutic shoes and inserts should be prescribed
freely to all patients with diabetes and prior foot ulcers.
However, this study did not provide evidence to support this
practice."
Researchers
followed 400 diabetic patients who had been treated for foot
ulcers and found that those who wore special footwear were
no less likely to redevelop foot ulcers than those who wore
regular shoes.
The study
suggests that careful attention by healthcare professionals
may be more important than therapeutic footwear in preventing
ulcers.
Medicare
pays for therapeutic footwear for thousands of patients with
diabetes each year.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of June 2, 2002
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