@article{22721,
  keywords = {Diabetes Complications, Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetic Foot, Diabetic Neuropathies, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, Humans, leprosy},
  author = {Boulton AJ M},
  title = {Diabetic foot--what can we learn from leprosy? Legacy of Dr Paul W. Brand.},
  abstract = {<p>Leprosy and diabetes, though two very different conditions, may both result in severe loss of sensation in the feet, which are then a great risk of painless injury and ulceration. Seminal observations made by the late Dr Paul W. Brand, a surgeon working with leprosy patients in South India in the mid-20th century, resulted in the subsequent development of treatments to manage insensitive foot ulcers that are today entirely applicable to patients with diabetes. As a consequence of his research, the recognition of the relationship between insensitivity, repetitive pressures and skin breakdown has helped our understanding of the aetiopathogenesis of neuropathic foot lesions in diabetes: the development of the total contact cast and other casting devices to treat such lesions forms the basis of management of diabetic foot lesions with off-loading devices that are widely used in the 21st century in diabetic foot clinics around the world. Moreover, observations by Brand that the foot {\textquoteright}heats up before it breaks down{\textquoteright} resulted in more recent research showing that self-skin temperature monitoring might help reduce the incidence of recurrent neuropathic foot ulcers in diabetes. In summary, Brand{\textquoteright}s understanding of {\textquoteright}the gift of pain{\textquoteright} that, when lost, results in the late complications of diabetic neuropathy has guided the prevention, diagnosis and management of diabetic foot problems in the 21st century.</p>},
  year = {2012},
  journal = {Diabetes/metabolism research and reviews},
  volume = {28 Suppl 1},
  pages = {3-7},
  month = {2012 Feb},
  publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell},
  address = {Oxford},
  issn = {1520-7560},
  url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dmrr.2230/pdf},
  doi = {10.1002/dmrr.2230},
  language = {eng},
}