The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that the number of Americans with diabetes has grown to 24 million — a surge of more than 3 million people in the past two years.

That surge is evident at Temple University’s School of Podiatric Medicine, where podiatrists have seen a spike in recently diagnosed diabetic patients who have been referred by their primary-care physician as part of a heightened awareness of the disease.

“Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions, and healthcare providers are becoming more proactive in their approach to care,” said Temple podiatrist Kathya Zinszer, who specializes in diabetic wound care. “In years past, patients would come to their doctor with chronic foot wounds, and would be so far gone that the only option would be to amputate. Now, that’s not the case, thanks to the push for preventive care.”

Temple’s approach to preventive care is twofold. At the Foot and Ankle Institute,

newly diagnosed diabetics undergo a number of baseline tests, including shoe fittings and gait analysis, to determine and correct any problem areas before they develop into chronic ulcers or wounds.

In addition, Zinszer and her colleagues stress the need for patients to make foot care a part of their everyday lives. She suggests wearing good, supportive slippers in the house, never going barefoot outdoors and checking inside the shoes to make sure there are no foreign objects that could rub or cut the foot.

“I tell all my patients to get in the habit of checking their shoes now, because while they may have good feeling in their feet today, in 10 years, they might not,” Zinszer said.

“Our goal is to do everything we can to salvage limbs and help our diabetic patients maintain a good quality of life,” she said.

Dr. Zinszer and other Temple wound care experts, Dr. James B. McGuire, chair of the Department of Podiatric Medicine and Orthopedics, and Dr. Stephen Kravitz, assistant professor at the School of Podiatric Medicine, are available for interviews and comment. For assistance, contact Renee Cree in News Communications at 215-707-1583 or renee.cree@temple.edu.