Exactly 3 days ago we opened the formal A Disease A Day health forums. Already two brave souls have posted questions there. While the purpose of the forums is for you, our readers, to discuss health issues amongst yourselves, from time to time we will answer questions posted there or publish important information here in the blog.

Now on to answering your (first ever) questions:

Mike asks in the diabetes forum:

HI everyone, I’m Mike
This is about my grandma’s. she’s 84 and kicking. She swims, cycles at home and she joins me once a week for some walking in the park
Recently, she noticed some changing in her nails. she says it’s been there for a while, involving her toe nails mainly. now it’s spread to her upper limbs’ nails. It’s affecting almost all nails now. It seem to disturb her. I know she’s been asking my mom, who’s a nurse, whether she can scrape it off somehow. I read that it might be all due to a nail fungus, and related to uncontrolled diabetes.
is it possible to scrape it off? what can she do about it? she tried to rub a cream against it, but it didn’t work.
Did anyone come across such a thing?
If so, let me know
Mike,
Meinheim, Germany.

Mike,

You raised a very important question. As you can read in our diabetes article, the disease can lead to many complications. In diabetes, the blood flow to the leg is damaged. This harms the ability of molecules which fight infection to arrive to the foot through the blood, causing infections to develop in the feet. Another damage in diabetes is to the nerves in your feet. This causes you to not feel pain in the foot like you used to. If wounds or ulcers develop in the foot as a result of infection, you thereby won’t feel it. This condition is called a diabetic foot.

There are some important guidelines people with diabetes should adhere to:

1. They should wash and dry their feet daily – Using soap. This should help fight local infections. It’s also important to dry the feet well, since fungus can develop in a wet environment.
2. They should examine their feet every day – Since wounds aren’t felt in this condition, it’s important to use the eyes to look for them.
3. They should take care of their toenails and protect their feet with shoes and socks

Not taking care of these may lead to serious infections which may in turn lead to leg amputation.

In the case of your grandmother, what you describe does sound like a fungus infection. She should visit her doctor soon, who will probably prescribe antibiotics. Make sure she takes care of the above guidelines so that you two can keep walking together in the park for many years to come…

Shir asks in the allergies forum:

Hi,
I’ve been suffering from all-year-long allergies since I can remember… I’ve now started using the "Nasocort" nasal spray and was wondering if it can be used indefinitely? Does it cause any damage?
Thanks!
Shir

Shir,

First of all, for our other readers, Nasacort is a spray you use if you have symptoms of seasonal or other allergies which manifest as a runny nose. It contains a steroid, which prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation.

There is no problem with using Nasacort indefinitely. In regards to damage, Nasacort can have some side effects, including a sore throat, headache and nosebleed. If any of these happen, you should contact your doctor.

Got any questions of your own? Visit our forums and ask away.

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