It’s sobering to find out that diabetes is the number one cause of limb amputation in the United States. This illness, characterized by the pancreas failing to release the insulin your body needs to regulate your body’s blood sugar level properly, affects more than 380 million people worldwide and takes more lives than AIDS and breast cancer combined -- claiming one American life every three minutes.

How Does Diabetes Contribute to Amputation Risk?

Diabetes can cause complications, including nerve damage (many times to extremities) and poor blood circulation, meaning that diabetics have diminished sensation and ability to feel pain. As a result, many diabetics are unaware when they sustain foot injuries and may not manage or treat the injury immediately. Diabetics are more vulnerable to skin sores, or ulcers, which can progress quickly and may be difficult to cure. These skin ulcers require prompt care because they can cause severe and irreversible damage to skin, muscle tissues and bone that may require amputation -- sometimes of a toe, foot or even part of a leg.

The good news is that better diabetes care is likely a reason that rates of lower-limb amputations have decreased by more than 50 percent over the past two decades.

Managing Your Risk

The most important step in managing your risk of amputation, especially lower-limb amputation, is proper diabetes management. Diabetics should maintain a healthy diet, exercise on a regular basis, monitor blood sugar levels  and take medications as prescribed.

Proper foot care is also essential to preventing ulcers and unnoticed injuries that put you at risk for amputation. Mayo Clinic and The American Diabetes Association have outlined several steps that you can take, as a diabetic, to protect your feet: