Why does it take diabetics a longer time to heal from cuts and wounds?
1) “Patients with diabetes often have wounds that are difficult to heal. The initial barrier to healing is an increased blood glucose level, which causes the cell walls to become rigid, impairing blood flow through the critical small vessels at the wound surface and impeding red blood cell permeability and flow. Impaired hemoglobin release of oxygen results in oxygen and nutrient deficits in the wound.3 A less-than-optimal immune function also contributes to poor wound healing in the patient with diabetes. When blood glucose levels arc persistently elevated, chemotaxis and phagocytosis arc compromised.4 Chemotaxis is the process by which white cells are attracted to the site of an infection; phagocytosis is the ingestion of bacteria by white cells. Both processes are important in controlling wound infections. Diabetic infections take longer to heal because of delayed macrophage introduction and diminished leukocyte migration, which causes a prolonged inflammatory phase in the wound hea
