Consequences of "doing your own doctor"
Dr. Nguyen Quang Bay - Head of the Department of Endocrinology - Diabetes, Bach Mai Hospital - had to exclaim before a case of self-treatment: "The elders say "one mistake, a thousand miles away" but the following patient is a story we never thought of".
The case that Dr. Bay mentioned was a male patient (51 years old) who had diabetes for 10 years and had to have a toe amputated due to infection in April 2024. The patient was prescribed 4 types of medicine, including 2 insulin injections, but only took 1 type, because the patient thought there was a treasure that was a very effective homemade diabetes medicine. He also did not take blood pressure medicine, but he drank enough 500ml of alcohol/day.
This time the patient stepped on a nail, after which his foot swelled up. Instead of going to the doctor, the patient self-injured his foot and applied tobacco leaves. After 2 weeks, he was very tired, had a high fever, had slurred speech and had to be hospitalized with severe anemia, a severe foot infection, a lot of pus and osteomyelitis, and a blood sugar level of 21.6 mmol/L.
Phu Tho General Hospital also just provided emergency care to a 58-year-old male patient who was admitted to the hospital with multiple skin lesions, red papules, target-shaped lesions, blisters, yellow blisters, red patches on the abdomen, arms, legs, and trunk with peeling skin, severe itching, moderate abdominal ascites, abdominal pain, and edema in both lower limbs.
The patient had a history of arthritis and bought the medicine at home to treat himself. After using it, he experienced symptoms of rashes all over his body so he went to a private clinic for treatment but the condition did not improve. On the contrary, the symptoms became worse, rashes increased, swelling of both lower limbs, abdominal distension and had to go to the provincial hospital for treatment.
Warning is never too late
According to Dr. Nguyen Quang Bay, diabetic patients should note that when they discover any injury to their feet, they should immediately see an endocrinologist to have their blood sugar fully controlled, have enough blood supply to the wound, have pus drained and used appropriate antibiotics.
Many people subjectively see that the ulcer is very small but will spread, be difficult to heal and have to amputate the leg despite using a lot of antibiotics because they forget to control blood sugar and/or cannot resolve the condition of narrowing of the arteries of the lower limbs - a fairly common complication in diabetic patients.
Doctors also recommend that when encountering health problems, one should carefully consider how to choose treatment, consult official information, equip oneself with knowledge to go to medical examination and treatment at specialized medical facilities. Avoid listening to unofficial recommendations or information, or you will end up "losing money and getting sick".
