Scientists from Shaoyang University and elsewhere found that vitamin D deficiency is linked to a diabetic foot ulcer.
About half of all people with diabetes have some kind of nerve damage.
You can have nerve damage in any part of your body, but nerves in your feet and legs are most often affected. Nerve damage can cause you to lose feeling in your feet.
Diabetic foot ulcers are among the most common complications of patients who have diabetes mellitus which is not well controlled.
It is usually the result of poor glycemic control, underlying neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, or poor foot care.
Vitamin D deficiency occurs when the body doesn’t get enough vitamin D from sunlight or diet. Vitamin D deficiency can cause loss of bone density, osteoporosis, and broken bones.
In the current study, researchers aimed to evaluate the association between vitamin D deficiency and diabetic foot ulcer wounds in people with diabetes.
They reviewed studies from studies testing 7586 people with diabetes at the beginning of the study. A total of 1565 participants were diabetic people with foot ulcer wounds, and 6021 were non-ulcerated diabetic patients.
The team found diabetic people with foot ulcer wounds had much lower vitamin D levels.
These people also had a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<50 nmoL/L), and a higher prevalence of severe vitamin D deficiency compared with non-ulcerated diabetic patients.
The team concludes that diabetic patients with foot ulcer wounds had much lower vitamin D levels and higher risks of vitamin D deficiency.
They suggest further studies need to validate these findings.
The research was published in International Wound Journal and conducted by Juan Lin et al.
If you care about health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and this plant nutrient could help reduce high blood pressure.
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