Eight diabetes patients a week having limbs amputated
Eight diabetes patients are having a lower limb amputation each week in Ireland.
People with the condition are at a higher risk of amputations because diabetes can cause nerve damage.
It emerged today that an average of eight sufferers a week underwent the procedure here last year.
Dublin GP Dr Sinead Beirne said the numbers were not a shock because of the economic situation in recent years.
"Providing healthcare to people with chronic diseases costs a lot of money. There has been an under-resourcing of that in the last few years," she said..
"An amputation is completely preventable through education."
