As Diabetes Awareness Week commences in Australia (11-17 July 2010), Rapid Healing, the distributor of a new technology for reversing the symptoms of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy, wants podiatrists and diabetics to know there is now a treatment that may prevent the growing number of amputations.

Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy is a leading cause of amputations in Australia and diabetes is a major focus of the Government's preventative health strategies.

"Yet if you can cure diabetic ulcers, you can prevent most diabetic amputations. It's as simple as that," says Rapid Healing Director, Mr Chris Stewart.  "Research shows that Anodyne Therapy can cure many persistent diabetic ulcers - ulcers that haven't healed for years for many elderly patients. The research also shows a 79% decrease in the occurrence of new ulcers in patients responsive to Anodyne Therapy."

Australians can now access a safe, non-invasive and drug free treatment that can reverse symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy, including providing 100% improvement in its severe grade Loss of Protective Sensation (LOPS), two of the major factors in diabetic ulcer incidence.

Recently, Mr Brenden Brown, President of the Australasian Podiatry Council, stated that “1-5% of Australian hospital beds carry a diabetic foot complication and an estimated 200,000 Australians (15% of diabetics) are affected by foot ulcers, with a further 1-3% of Australians (or 45,000 people) having already lost a limb to amputation ... over 1000 Australian’s died as a result of complications arising from diabetic foot ulcers each year ... [and] the relative five-year mortality rate after limb amputation from diabetes was at 50%."[1]

Victorian Premier John Brumby recently said that "200 Victorians had their legs amputated below the knee last year because of type-2 diabetes."[2]

"These statistics are a travesty given that Anodyne Therapy can heal many diabetic ulcers that so often lead to these amputations, and premature deaths from related complications," lamented Mr Stewart.

Mr Stewart challenged Podiatrists in light of their "The Future of Diabetic Foot Care” Seminar series in July 2009. "If the proven outcomes of Anodyne Therapy isn't part of the future, then we're destined to repeat the past: debilitating symptoms with little to no relief for sufferers, except for invasive surgery or amputations that often lead to premature deaths...let alone the ballooning cost to our national health budget."

Anodyne Therapy is a “breakthrough in the treatment of neuropathy – a condition that often leads to non-healing ulcers and amputations,” explained Dale Bertwell, the creator of the technology. “I can personally relate to the difficulties and pain people with diabetes face. I invented this system when my Dad died of complications of a diabetic amputation.”

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[1] http://www.apodc.com.au/news-room/2009/7/17/mortality-rate-for-diabetic-foot-disease-second-only-to-lung.html
[2] http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/fastfood-outlets-forced-to-count-the-kilojoules-20100629-zjaf.html?

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HOW DOES ANODYNE THERAPY WORK?

Anodyne Therapy involves a schedule of 30-45 minute treatments where a specific, patented near-infrared photo energy is pulsed up to 5cm into soft tissue.  This creates deep warmth, and releases Nitric Oxide which both provides localised pain relief and causes blood vessels to soften allowing increased blood flow.  A Nobel Prize was awarded in 1998 for the discovery of the effects of Nitric Oxide on blood vessels.  With a dramatic increase in microcirculation, the body can heal itself, quickly and predictably.

"The remarkable thing about Anodyne Therapy is how safe and easy to use it is.  Patients can treat themselves at home as part of a comprehensive care program managed by their podiatrist or GP.  There's no drugs, no surgery, no lasers, no electrical currents being put into the body.  It's simple, safe, effective," said Mr Stewart.

"It's important, however," cautions Mr Stewart, "that any wound care should be in the expert hands of a qualified Podiatrist.  Anodyne Therapy is only one part, an addition, that can help the other standard practices deliver quality outcomes.  Patients still need Podiatrists to design and actively manage a comprehensive care program that includes coordinating services by other providers, and covers areas such as wound care, medications monitoring, strengthening, stretching and balancing exercises, therapeutic massage and sensory integration modalities."

For a list of customer testimonials, visit: http://www.anodynetherapy.ca/testimonials.html

WHY IS ANODYNE THERAPY GOOD FOR DIABETICS?

Diabetes is a vascular disease

• Retinopathy
• Nephropathy
• Peripheral Neuropathy
• Autonomic Neuropathy (Gastroparesis; Silent Heart Attacks)
• Coronary Artery Disease

Diabetic Patients Don’t Have Enough Nitric Oxide

• Reduced production of NO
• What little NO is produced is bound tightly to hemoglobin (HgA1c)
• Glucose destroys NO

Therefore

• More vascular disease
• More pain (neuropathic; ischemic)
• More non-healing wounds
• All symptoms that Anodyne Therapy is proven to provide relief for!

WHAT CLINICAL PROOF IS THERE FOR ANODYNE THERAPY?

Over 12 peer-reviewed research reports, including randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled studies, involving over 4500 patients with a mean age of 74 years, have shown that Anodyne Therapy can, for the majority of peripheral neuropathy sufferers, consistently and quickly:

• Heal diabetic ulcers (100% of new wounds heal after 8 weeks, compared to 15% normally) and significantly reduce new ulcer incidence (79% over 12 months) - helping to prevent amputations
• Relieve neuropathic pain (87% 'substantial reduction') and other chronic pain conditions (88.8% 'total to excellent pain relief') - helping to reduce pain medications
• Restore sensation (366% improvement), including improving Loss of Protective Sensation (LOPS) (100% improvement) - increasing quality of life
• Reduce falls (78%) and resulting secondary injuries, and increase daily activity (72%) - greatly improving the general health and quality of life outcomes

"Not only do these proven results offer great quality of life outcomes for peripheral neuropathy sufferers - reversing neuropathy symptoms and getting them active again - but the potential cost savings to them personally, and our health system nationally, could be enormous," Mr Stewart argued.

In the USA, Anodyne Therapy is a recognised Medicare item, supported by health insurance companies and offered by thousands of providers.  It is even used by professional sporting teams and the US Navy Seals to rapidly heal a wide variety of physical injuries.

"While this clinically proven treatment has been available in the USA, Europe and many other countries for years, Australian podiatrists and other medical specialists hardly know about it," Mr Stewart observed.  "We're not a major pharmaceutical or medical technology company, and so haven't had the industry standard multi-million-dollar-budget to educate Australian doctors that finally, there is a proven effective solution that can actually reverse symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in most cases,"  Mr Stewart said.

A compendium of clinical research is available directly from the Rapid Healing website at http://www.rapidhealing.com.au/research.html