More diabetics in UAE needing amputations

DUBAI // More diabetics are having limbs amputated because of complications from the disease, a prosthetics clinic said yesterday. " We have seen an increasing number of people requiring prosthetics as a result of diabetes, which has increased at an alarming rate in the UAE over the past decade," said Andreas Buchold, the director of the German Limbtech clinic, at an event at Dubai Healthcare City.

According to the Ministry of Health, around 24 per cent of Emiratis and 17 per cent of expatriates have diabetes. Complications from the disease include the narrowing of arteries, which reduces blood flow to the feet and can lead to an unnoticed cut or sore developing into a larger problem. Diabetes can also cause nerve damage, reducing the sensation of pain in the feet. newsdesk@thenational.ae