A recent article in News Medical details the impact of diabetes on wound healing. It points out that “angiogenesis is key for the healing of wounds” and that “diabetes leads to a decrease in angiogenesis.” Moreover, it states that “diabetes also alters the ability of macrophages to switch from a pro-inflammatory phenotype to a pro-reparative phenotype, which increases the inflammatory profile in diabetic wounds.”
The decrease in wound healing can lead to further complications: “Many people with diabetes develop wounds that are slow to heal or never heal. Wounds that do not heal well can become infected.” In fact, 15% of people with diabetes will experience diabetic foot ulcers due to a decrease in healing ability, painful sores that could ultimately lead to foot amputation.
However, diabetes doesn’t have to be an exclusively downward slope of progressive disease. While it is true that “a diabetic state also leads to a decreased population of endothelial progenitor cells from the bone marrow” which will then “decrease the vasculature in diabetic tissues and affects wound healing,” it’s also true that endothelial progenitor cell production can be encouraged and increased, and inflammation can be healthfully regulated with the right diet, lifestyle, and supplementation.
The better you understand diabetes, the better you can mitigate the symptoms of the condition, and maintain the quality of life you deserve.