The ADA’s Newest Diabetes Recommendations are Good News for Your Feet
Managing diabetes can sometimes seem like a full-time job. Keeping track of your blood sugar is only the beginning. Knowing your blood sugar levels is vital, yes, but so is staying on top of your mental health, cardiovascular health, weight, food choices, and foot-related diabetes issues.
The American Diabetes Association aims to help people with diabetes with a set of guidelines for diabetes care. As they do every December, the ADA just released their newest recommendations for treating this disease that affects 37 million people in the U.S. alone. The guidelines are notable for their inclusion of the latest research and treatments for pregnant women, underserved populations, and those for whom English isn’t their first language.
But the recommendations for 2023 also include tweaks for diabetes basics like blood pressure, weight loss, and cholesterol numbers.
- High blood pressure for those with diabetes is now defined as anything over 130/80.
- LDL cholesterol, sometimes called the “bad” cholesterol, should remain below 70 for those without heart disease and even lower for those taking statin medications for heart disease.
- For obese patients with diabetes, the old recommendation to lose 5% of their weight has increased to 15%.
Why we care
Our experienced podiatric surgeons, Dr. Craig B. Frey, Dr. Megan L. Oltmann, Dr. Jim Swienconek, Dr. Rachel Robinson, and Dr. Courtney Yoder, admire the holistic approach the ADA has taken with their guidelines for diabetes care. We understand that caring for the whole person will produce the best outcomes for the kinds of diabetic foot issues we treat, such as neuropathy, wound care, and foot deformities that require corrective surgery.
We recommend that our patients with diabetes visit us at least once a year for a foot check. Call Foot & Ankle Associates of Cleveland in Solon, Ohio at (440) 903-1041 or contact us online to schedule a consultation. We offer a modern office with the latest technology for podiatric patients in Portage, Geauga, Cuyahoga, and Summit Counties, proudly serving our patients from Solon, Aurora, Bedford, Chagrin Falls, Hudson, Macedonia, and Twinsburg.
