Diabetes: Diabetic Foot Ulcers May be Cure by A Vitamin A
Compound
A compound of vitamin A called topical Retin-A also known as
tretinoin, mainly used to treat acne problems, enhances the
healing of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes, according to a
report of the Archives of Dermatology.
Though previous studies showed that topical Retin-A was a bit
helpful in enhancing wound healing in patients with diabetes and
some results were discussed by different scientifics, a group of
researchers tried to know if tretinoin really helped or not to
these patients.
The research was carried out with 24 volunteers who had diabetic
foot ulcers but who showed no evidence of infection or
circulation problems in their extremities. Some patients were
assigned to 4 weeks of daily treatment with topical 0.05 per
cent tretinoin solution meanwhile the control group was assigned
to a treatment with a saline solution. Both groups were assessed
every 2 weeks.
The 22 volunteers who completed the study were affected by a
total of 24 foot ulcers. 18 per cent of patients in the control
group (2 of the 11 ulcers) and 46 per cent of patients in the
treated group (6 of the 13 ulcers) achieved a complete healing
at the end of 16 weeks. There was no statistical significance of
adverse events, though some patients experienced mild pain at
the ulcer site.
The researchers were pleased with the results, although they
were a bit concerned because tretinoin irritates and they
thought that the patients would become so irritated that they
wouldn't be able to continue the research. However, this
situation didn't seem to be a problem in most cases, as they
explained.
A conclusion for the researchers was that they hope that
diabetic foot clinics know about this and use Retin-A when other
therapies that they use don't work.
Article written by Hector Milla editor of http://www.mydiabetessuppl
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