HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Of the more than 80,000 amputations performed annually on diabetic patients in the United States, 72,000 were preventable. Prevention will be the focus for an international cast of medical experts that will converge in Hollywood March 3 through March 5 to determine how to ensure that diabetics never again have to lose their foot or leg.
DF Con 05 Global Diabetic Foot Conference, sponsored by Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center and the Providence Diabetic Foot Center, is the only major symposium of its kind on the West Coast, bringing together an international faculty of more than 30 physicians to speak on the diabetic foot -- the telltale area of the body where diabetic complications often first appear. Between 300 and 400 physicians, podiatrists, surgeons, nurses and diabetic educators are expected to attend the three-day conference at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel.
“With one in seven California adults suffering from or at significant risk for diabetes, the impact of diabetic foot problems that can lead to amputation is potentially catastrophic,” said George Andros, M.D. Medical Director of Vascular Services at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center and co-chair of the symposium. “We need to recognize and share innovative prevention and treatment strategies used by the world’s leading experts in the care of the diabetic foot. That is the way to improve diabetic foot care here in our own community, and that is the way to ensure that every diabetic patient has a chance to save their feet.”
The third annual symposium will also feature Edward James Olmos, an Emmy- winning actor, producer, director, community activist and the national spokesman for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Olmos will present the second annual Edward James Olmos Award for Advocacy in Amputation Prevention to Andrew J.M. Boulton, MD, FRCP, a renowned diabetes expert and Professor of Medicine at Manchester Royal Infirmary in the United Kingdom.
The number of Americans with diabetes is expected to grow from 18 million in 2002 to more than 30 million by the year 2030, according to the American Diabetes Association. The estimated $92 billion spent on diabetes complications accounts for nearly one-fifth of all health care costs in the United States, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Diabetes disproportionately affects Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders -- communities that represent more than 67 percent of the culturally diverse population in Los Angeles County, compared to 29 percent of the population in the United States. In fact, Southern California has the highest prevalence of diabetic foot pathology in the United States.
For people with diabetes, the most common reason for hospitalization is a foot problem such as an ulcer. Diabetic foot wounds, if not treated early, can lead to foot amputations.
As the number of people diagnosed with diabetes continues to escalate, Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center opened Southern California’s first diabetic foot center in August 2002 to catch the early signs of diabetic complications and reduce the number of diabetic-related amputations.
For diabetics, potential amputations can be the result of an event as simple as buying new shoes that are too tight, as Providence Diabetic Foot Center patient Bill Hill, 70, of Sherman Oaks can attest.
“My new loafers caused a wound on my toe as I saw my feet were turning red,” Hill said. “I came to the Providence Diabetic Foot Center and was diagnosed and treated. They taught me the importance of examining my feet every day, and now I do it.”
For more information on the conference, log onto the Internet at http://www.dfcon.com/.
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
CONTACT: Dan Boyle, Marketing & Public Relations of Providence SaintJoseph Medical Center, +1-818-847-4602
Web site: http://www.dfcon.com/