Diabetic Foot Infections and Treatment
Roger Guzman, M.D.
December 10, 2008
Diabetic foot infections cause frequent visits to the health care team and may lead to amputation. However, late last year, MacroChem declared that it implemented the option they previously obtained. It now has the sole license right for pexiganan. This is used to treat the mild variety of this condition.
The president and CEO of MacroChem said that this will broaden their company's product portfolio. Pexiganan will join their other foot product called EcoNail (R) which is used to treat nail fungus. Both drugs therefore would treat foot diseases by specialists who will prescribe them. This will be mainly podiatrists. These two products will also interest the primary care physicians and physician specialists.
Genaera conducted clinical trials on 1000 patients. They exposed these to pexiganan along with 418 who received the drug in two Phase 3 trials that they presented to the Food and Drug Administration of the USA. FDA said that in one of the two trials it passed the test while the other gave strong indication that pexiganan has clinical benefit. Now MacroChem believes there has been improvement in the manufacture of peptide and in the trial design.
Mr. Luccia said they are pleased to have pexiganan because once it is approved, both physicians and patients will welcome it in order to treat diabetic foot infections. He said further that with the rising trend of diabetes, cases like these will grow as well. Diabetic foot ulcers are a most important concern. Right now there is no effective topical anti-microbial compound for diabetic foot ulcers.
Professor of Medicine Benjamin Lipsky of the University of Washington School of Medicine who is also chairman of the Infectious Disease Society of America Guidelines Committee on Diabetic Foot Infections agreed that there is a need for a topical compound to treat mild cases of these. He said there are very few available and not one of these has been effective.
It is important to get immobilized while waiting for the healing process to do its magic. However, chronic osteomyelitis cannot be treated without surgery so consultation with a surgeon is appropriate. A vascular surgeon for debridement and/or amputation is the doctor to see. For the treatment of diabetic foot infections, an infectious disease specialist should be consulted in order for the antimicrobial therapy be optimized.
Diet and physical activity should be continued in order to control the blood sugar level. Whatever activities he can tolerate, the patient may participate in them but beware of weight-bearing exercises as they may be contraindicated.
For follow-up, it should be noted that the most important treatment intervention in chronic osteomyelitis is surgical debridement. Amputation is even necessary in some cases. After amputation, rehabilitation and physical therapy can be started while in the hospital and then continued on at home.
Monitoring the patients is important to make sure the diabetic foot infections are resolved. Oral antibiotics can be used instead of the intravenous kind. The patients must educate themselves and remember that chronic osteomyelitis cannot be treated without surgical intervention.
Those who do not want to go through surgery must understand that there are long-term complications. This situation can be prevented by following the guidelines of foot care. The patients should avoid trauma to the foot and to take care of their feet in order to avoid diabetic foot infections .
Please visit these sites for more diabetes help:
Diabetes Leg Pain
Diabetic Foot Ulcer
Brief Biography: Dr. Guzman worked for the Atlantic Health Corporation and was consultant to St. Joseph's Hospital, Sussex Mental Health Clinic, and St. Stephen Mental Health Clinic for many years. He was Director of Forensic Psychiatry at Centracare for ten years and published numerous articles in the Journal of the American College of Forensic Psychiatry and other medical magazines.
Copyright © December 8, 2008 Roger Guzman, M.D. (Diabetic Foot Infections and Treatment) All Rights Reserved. You may copy and publish this article as long as the text, the author's name, the active links and this notice remain the same.
The president and CEO of MacroChem said that this will broaden their company's product portfolio. Pexiganan will join their other foot product called EcoNail (R) which is used to treat nail fungus. Both drugs therefore would treat foot diseases by specialists who will prescribe them. This will be mainly podiatrists. These two products will also interest the primary care physicians and physician specialists.
Genaera conducted clinical trials on 1000 patients. They exposed these to pexiganan along with 418 who received the drug in two Phase 3 trials that they presented to the Food and Drug Administration of the USA. FDA said that in one of the two trials it passed the test while the other gave strong indication that pexiganan has clinical benefit. Now MacroChem believes there has been improvement in the manufacture of peptide and in the trial design.
Mr. Luccia said they are pleased to have pexiganan because once it is approved, both physicians and patients will welcome it in order to treat diabetic foot infections. He said further that with the rising trend of diabetes, cases like these will grow as well. Diabetic foot ulcers are a most important concern. Right now there is no effective topical anti-microbial compound for diabetic foot ulcers.
Professor of Medicine Benjamin Lipsky of the University of Washington School of Medicine who is also chairman of the Infectious Disease Society of America Guidelines Committee on Diabetic Foot Infections agreed that there is a need for a topical compound to treat mild cases of these. He said there are very few available and not one of these has been effective.
It is important to get immobilized while waiting for the healing process to do its magic. However, chronic osteomyelitis cannot be treated without surgery so consultation with a surgeon is appropriate. A vascular surgeon for debridement and/or amputation is the doctor to see. For the treatment of diabetic foot infections, an infectious disease specialist should be consulted in order for the antimicrobial therapy be optimized.
Diet and physical activity should be continued in order to control the blood sugar level. Whatever activities he can tolerate, the patient may participate in them but beware of weight-bearing exercises as they may be contraindicated.
For follow-up, it should be noted that the most important treatment intervention in chronic osteomyelitis is surgical debridement. Amputation is even necessary in some cases. After amputation, rehabilitation and physical therapy can be started while in the hospital and then continued on at home.
Monitoring the patients is important to make sure the diabetic foot infections are resolved. Oral antibiotics can be used instead of the intravenous kind. The patients must educate themselves and remember that chronic osteomyelitis cannot be treated without surgical intervention.
Those who do not want to go through surgery must understand that there are long-term complications. This situation can be prevented by following the guidelines of foot care. The patients should avoid trauma to the foot and to take care of their feet in order to avoid diabetic foot infections .
Please visit these sites for more diabetes help:
Diabetes Leg Pain
Diabetic Foot Ulcer
Brief Biography: Dr. Guzman worked for the Atlantic Health Corporation and was consultant to St. Joseph's Hospital, Sussex Mental Health Clinic, and St. Stephen Mental Health Clinic for many years. He was Director of Forensic Psychiatry at Centracare for ten years and published numerous articles in the Journal of the American College of Forensic Psychiatry and other medical magazines.
Copyright © December 8, 2008 Roger Guzman, M.D. (Diabetic Foot Infections and Treatment) All Rights Reserved. You may copy and publish this article as long as the text, the author's name, the active links and this notice remain the same.
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