Can you feel your feet?


Andrea, We have made a lot of progress, but people with diabetes are still nearly 10 times more likely to undergo an amputation than people without the disease. That is a staggering number especially when you consider that the rate of amputations dropped by over 50% over the past couple decades, thanks to research and education. Even those who do not end up losing a limb likely suffer from neuropathy—nerve damage that leads to chronic pain or numbness, usually in the hands or feet. Andrea, your support is the key to advancing our life-saving research, such as research to understand the causes of neuropathy and how to treat it better. Will you please consider making a secure, tax-deductible online gift today? Your gift will be MATCHED, dollar-for-dollar, and every dollar you give will be used towards research (our partner, Amaranth Diabetes Foundation will match up to $300,000 but we have a deadline of April 30!). You may already know that neuropathy is dangerous because loss of sensation increases risk of injury and makes it harder to notice blisters, cuts, sores and other wounds—especially on your feet. And overlooking a cut or sore is a BIG problem because people with diabetes tend to heal more slowly than others. In some cases, people with diabetes suffer from chronic wounds that simply will not heal, even with time and treatment.

We’ve had some promising results in wound treatment. That’s why we’ve had success in reducing the rate of amputations in people with diabetes—yet the rate remains nearly 10 times higher than in people without diabetes. We need to do more to make sure that everyone has access to improved treatments for neuropathy and wound care. Any amount you can afford to give will help save and improve lives by funding research and education efforts to prevent amputation, neuropathy and other potentially deadly complications of diabetes. (Please don’t wait to donate, we have a chance to double the impact of your donation, thanks to the matching gift!) In the meantime, please check out our 13 tips for healthy feet to find out how to keep yourself or a loved one healthy. Thank you again for all you to do to help Stop Diabetes^®.