* About 67,000 legs and feet are...
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* About 67,000 legs and feet are amputated a year in the United States due to complications from diabetes.
* More than half of those who have a limb amputated because of diabetes will lose the other limb within three to five years.
* Fifteen percent of people with diabetes will develop an open wound or ulceration on their feet during their lifetime. Of those wounds, 20% will result in amputation.
* African Americans are twice as likely to have a lower-extremity amputation than whites with diabetes. Native Americans are three to four times more likely than whites.
* Latinos have the highest incidence of diabetes than any other ethnic group.
* See a doctor if you have diabetes and any of these symptoms in your legs and feet:
-- Aches and pain in the legs, either at rest or while walking.
-- Bleeding within the skin around corns and calluses.
-- Changes in skin color.
-- Dry cracks in the skin, especially around the heel.
-- Swelling of the foot or ankle.
-- Fungus-infected or ingrown toenails.
-- Open sores, with or without drainage, that are slow to heal.
-- Higher skin temperature.
Source: The Foot Health Foundation of America and the American Podiatric Medical Assn.
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