Book Reviews

Healthy feet Authors: Lewis Russell and Bob Hardy

Publisher: Optima Press.

Size: 220 x 140mm (130 pp)

Price: €5.99 Paperback.

This paperback volume combines the skills of the state-registered chiropodist and the shoe fitter in a practi- cal guide to footware and foot- care aimed directly at the con- sumer. Much of its advice on the making, fitting and choos-

ing of shoes and the preven- tion and treatment of foot problems is clearly set out and easy to understand and relev- ant to diabetics as well as to non-diabetics. At the back of the book is a useful list of addresses for those with odd sized feet or seekers of further information on footy matters.

But, unfortunately, this book is a curate’s egg in that it is only good in parts, and it is a shame that it falls down in the very area where mistakes can have serious consequences, the section on the diabetic foot.

The passage on the patho- genesis of foot ulceration is very confused as the authors

News

Defeat diabetic eye disease Diabetes is the commonest

single cause of blindness in the working age group in the UK. Each year, about 11,OOO people with diabetes develop sight-threatening changes in the eyes.

If damage to the blood ves- sels at the back of the eye is detected early enough, blind- ness can be prevented. To pro- mote this detection, the BDA now recommends that each person with diabetes should have their eyes screened annu- ally for retinopathy (the dam- age to the retina, the film at the back of the eye responsible for sight).

To ensure that all diabetics have the opportunity to be tested regularly. and to com- pliment existing services. the BDA is providing 10 Mobile Eye Screening Units which will travel throughout desig- nated Health Authorities. The first four units, were launched

Obituary Mrs h a Hampson

After a long illness. Ina Hampson died on 4 May 1989. She trained at St Thomas’ but spent the greater part of her professional life in the Wigan area, and was a well known figure at Diabetic Meetings in the North West.

Ina was appointed as Diab- etes Specialist Nurse in March 1981 at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan. After visiting various diabetic

during Defeat Diabetes Week. 11-17 June 1989 and will be going to the Health Authorities in East Anglia, Merseyside. Scotland and Nothern Ireland.

This project has been greatly helped by a donation of f150,OOO from the Allied Dunbar Foundation with further support from a number of organisations.

For the past two years. the BDA has carried out a pilot project to detect diabetic eye disease. Tests were done by both retinal camera and the usual ophthalmological tests and both methods were com- pared. The preliminary analy- sis has shown that retinal photo- graphy. used under controlled conditions. is more efficient in detecting changes in the eye. Retinal cameras are easier to operate and more convenient for the patient as the pupils do not have to be dilated.

centres in the country, she established a diabetic centre in Wigan. It was due to her hard work and enthusiasm that this developed into an active centre with a multi-discipli- nary approach to diabetes. Ina was actively involved in diabe- tic education in the North West where she was well known and respected. She will be sorely missed by her col- leagues, many friends and patients who appreciated her contribution to diabetic care and education.

do not differentiate between the plantar ulcers associated with heavy callus formation found in the neuropathic foot and the shallow marginated ulcers found in the foot with peripheral vascular disease.

They advocate the use of padding to divert pressure off ulcers, an old-fashioned prac- tice which is rarely recom- mended now since this can be more effectively and safely accomplished by using insoles and orthoses.

The book implies that use of ‘covered’ hot water bottles is safe for diabetics and that it is all right for slippers to be worn around the house, when both these practices have been

implicated as common causes of foot problems. And the sec- tion on shoe fitting for dia- betics suggests the choice of ‘soft leather uppers which will mould to the foot shape’. Using the diabetic foot to stretch the shoe in this way could cause ulceration and should never be recom- mended.

It is sad that a potentially useful book which could play a valuable part in diabetic patient education should be flawed in this way.

Aleahecc Foster

Kings C&ge HospW London

Chief C h W

Notice

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We will consider: (a) an experienced advertisement sales

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Salary, good (dependent on experience and qualifications) plus car, commission and expenses. Please write with cur- riculum vitae to James Wroe, Publishing Director, Newbourne Health Services, Home & Law Publishing Ltd, Greater London House, London NWI 7QQ.

190 Practical Diabetes luly/August 1989 k l 6 No 4