From the Poughkeepsie Journal news article:
A lot of major health problems start to reveal themselves as foot trouble, even though many of us don’t pay attention to taking care of our feet until a problem arises.
The foot is one of the most complex parts of the body, with 52 bones, 66 joints and more than 200 tendons, muscles and ligaments, plus a half-million sweat glands.
If you have diabetes, you’re more likely to have narrowed blood vessels in your feet, which leads to nerve damage (neuropathy) along with foot pain, numbness and weakness. Because of loss of sensation, individuals with diabetic neuropathy may be unaware of treatable foot injuries until infection sets in, and sometimes the damage is severe enough that amputation is required. The National Institutes of Health reports 60 percent of all amputations are diabetes-related.
Read more at the link: