Mackay Leads The Way In Type 2 Diabetes Wound Care Research

Mackay could become a diabetes research hub with the potential to help accelerate
treatment breakthroughs and enable greater access to life-changing technology for
sufferers.

This is the goal of Mackay HHS endocrinologist Dr Harshal Deshmukh who, after only
10 months in the region, has secured funding to conduct a world-first study focussed
on type 2 diabetes and Diabetic Foot Disease (DFD).

The local study, which investigates technology to track blood sugar and how it can
benefit wound healing, was critical to stemming a coming “tsunami of diabetic foot
disease,” Dr Deshmukh said.

The Mackay researcher has been awarded $50,000 in funding by the Tropical
Australian Academic Health Centre (TAAHC) to conduct a 12-month study on the
effects of Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) on wound healing, quality of life and
amputation rates in a high-risk diabetes foot clinic.

Dr Deshmukh said that DFD was a common complication of diabetes which affected people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and is defined as infection, ulceration and soft tissue destruction
of the foot.

“I am seeing three to four patients with diabetic foot disease every week here in our
high-risk clinic at Mackay Base Hospital,” Dr Deshmukh said.

“The five-year mortality rate for patients with diabetic foot is comparable to or worse
than many forms of cancer, reaching about 50 per cent in many cases.

“This research will focus investigations on patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic
foot, so by definition, they have poorly controlled diabetes management and require
intensive glucose management.”

Dr Deshmukh said the 12-month research project would provide data on glycaemic
control in type 2 patients and its correlation to healing diabetic foot ulcers to prevent
limb amputations and prolong life expectancy.

“Limb amputation is 15 times more common in people with diabetes,” he added.

Trials using the CGM device would track patient’s blood sugar levels across the day,
providing researchers with data to inform treatment options. The CGMs would be used
for a three to six-month period across 40 patients to test blood sugar levels in a 24-
hour period.

“Having more data means we can provide evidence on how this technology can
improve health outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes, including preventing
amputations, complications and extended hospitalisations,” he said.

“This is the first study of CGMS in people living with type 2 diabetes and having a foot
ulcer and if we see a good result, we can do another much bigger study with a much
larger sample across multiple centres to get further evidence it works which may
actually help get it on the PBS.

“There’s been a lot of research done on CGMs and their benefit with type 1 diabetes,
but no research has been done on if they can assist with wound healing in diabetic
foot anywhere in the world,” Dr Deshmukh said.

CGMs are currently not subsidised for type 2 diabetes.

Dr Deshmukh said he hoped the research would pave the way for patients with type 2
having subsidised access to CGMs and ultimately, change how diabetic foot disease
was treated.

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Dr. Harshal Deshmukh leads a $50,000 study in Mackay on CGM technology to improve diabetic foot care, reduce amputations, and enhance treatment outcomes. Photo supplied