Foot care program for patients with leprosy also may prevent amputations in persons with diabetes

Article Abstract:

Patients with diabetes mellitus who are treated at the Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center's Carville Foot Treatment Program for leprosy patients may be spared amputation of their feet. Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of lower limb amputations in the US. Diabetes patients experience loss of feeling in their feet as a result of decreased blood supply and nerve function. Patients with decreased feeling in their feet may be unable to protect against injuries that lead to amputation. Insensitive feet may be injured by contact with sharp objects, obstruction of blood flow by shoes that are too tight, abrasions or infections spread by use of an injured foot. New patients at Carville are evaluated, and those with infections are treated with antibiotics. Patients must remain in bed, and the injured leg is splinted. Individuals with foot ulcers may undergo surgery, or have their foot encased in a walking cast. Recovered patients are given protective footwear, and taught to examine their feet each morning and evening for injuries. Among 158 patients with foot ulcers treated at Carville, 149 (94%) were healed.

Care and treatment, Prevention, Diabetes, Diabetes mellitus, Foot, Foot care, Amputations of foot, Foot amputation

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Last USPHS leprosy hospital phasing out: research relocating to university

Article Abstract:

The research laboratory portion of Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center is moving from Carville, LA to the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. This move is part of a plan to close the last leprosy hospital in the US. Much of the facility has already been converted to a health care center for prisoners with chronic health problems. The Hansen's Disease Center was started in 1894, and most leprosy patients in the US were hospitalized at the Center until 1960, with the patient census being as high as 400 at times. Since then, the number of leprosy patients has decreased, and the cost of running the center, the only such hospital run by the US Public Health Service, has increased significantly. In the 1990s, most leprosy patients are treated as outpatients. At the research laboratory, scientists study the transmission of leprosy using armadillos as an animal model. They are developing a vaccine and better drugs to treat leprosy. The Center's Foot Treatment Program for treatment of foot disorders in patients with leprosy and other conditions will remain in Carville.

Hospitals, Buildings and facilities, Location, United States. Public Health Service, Leprosy research

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Thanks to gift from Ross Perot, University of Texas Southwestern's MD-PhD program triples in size

Article Abstract:

H. Ross Perot gave a $20 million 10-year grant to support medical research to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in 1987. About a third of the grant goes to Southwestern's Medical Scientist Training Program to help MD-PhD students. MD-PhD programs, which require seven to ten years of study compared with four years of medical school, are the most effective way to train clinical researchers. However, the extra years of accumulated debt the MD-PhD programs entail keep potential students out of these programs. Grants like Perot's provide stipends for the MD-PhD candidates and allow them to graduate without incurring huge personal debts. Following Perot's grant, the number of students in Southwestern's Medical Scientist Training Program has more than tripled, and the grant has enabled Southwestern to attract outstanding MD-PhD students from around the US. Because the public is not likely to support subsidies for medical education, more medical schools may look to private individuals and corporations to help fund these programs.

Donations, Training, Medical scientists, Perot, H. Ross, University of Texas (Dallas) Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, Texas)

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