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from skin to hair, Even scabs and tearsbody appearance provides hints about health status.
However, there is another part of the anatomy that is often overlooked. That’s the foot.
Your feet are wired with nerve fiber tracts from your brain that allow you to stand, balance, and wiggle your toes. There are also blood vessels running all the way from the heart.
The appearance and function of our feet can indicate viral infections, diseases of the cardiovascular system, and even neurological diseases. Here are some examples:
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Hand-foot-and-mouth disease
Infections tend to affect different parts of the body.
measles It usually starts as small spots that look like sugar grains on the face or mouth. Pityriasis versicolorIt is a type of fungal infection that tends to start and stay in the torso. The reasons why these areas tend to be affected are not well understood.
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease, or HFM, begins in these very areas. It is caused by a virus known as. coxsackie And they tend to develop pinkish-red raised spots that blister and ooze. This name is a bit of a misnomer. The rash can also affect the legs and buttocks. If a new rash appears on the legs, the doctor should consider her HFM.
HFM is a common disease in children and is highly contagious. Thankfully, it is usually short-lived and resolves within a few days without treatment.
should not be confused with feet and mouth But more specifically, the hooves and mouth. Foot-and-mouth disease is a different virus than HFM, and it (mainly) infects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle and sheep.It is a disease that causes Popular in the UK in 2001.
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heart, blood vessels, legs
Our circulatory system supplies blood to every part of our body, from the top of our heads to our toes. By the time the blood vessels reach these ends, they have branched out like tree twigs and are much smaller in size.
We’ve all experienced the discomfort of freezing cold feet at one time or another, especially when walking barefoot around the house or on cold days. It is normal for your feet to feel cold to the touch, but they should not turn blue from their normal skin color. It also shouldn’t get so cold that it hurts.
Severe symptoms of discoloration and pain may indicate the following phenomena: blue toes syndrome. This can be caused by small clumps called microemboli, which are made up of cholesterol clumps. These emboli easily pass through large blood vessels, but the smaller they become, the more difficult they are to pass through.
When it reaches the small blood vessels in your legs, it eventually becomes clogged, cutting off your blood supply. The tissues then become starved of oxygen, causing the foot to change color and become painful.
In severe cases, Brutu syndrome can cause tissue death, destruction, and gangrene formation, which may require necessary treatment. cutting It can be the whole foot, not just the toes.
This rare condition is sometimes referred to as “.trash feet” This is due to the way the feet discolor.
What’s the root cause of these tiny cholesterol fragments? Most likely an aneurysm or atherosclerosis, a dilated or hardened blood vessel upstream in your legs. When trash foot occurs, surgical treatment is often used for symptoms such as: aortic aneurysm repair. This procedure can destroy blood vessels and destroy emboli.
In addition to garbage feet, there are other signs of cardiovascular disease in your feet. raised red swelling If it appears on your feet (as well as your hands), it may indicate a heart infection called a heart infection. bacterial endocarditis. These may be painless (in which case they are called Janeway lesions) or they may be painful, called Osler’s nodes.
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Toes can also signal problems with the nervous system.
If you have seen “ER” or “”Grey’s Anatomy” I heard one of the characters exclaim, “The soles are coming up!” While examining the patient, you will notice that they mention the Babinski reflex. Doctors may have furrowed their brows with worry after discovering the ascending plantar, but there was good reason for that.
Babinski’s sign is a simple test that involves stroking the sole of the foot with a blunt instrument to check for reaction in the toes.this is plantar reflex — plantar associated with the sole of the foot. Typically, when this reflex is triggered, the toes curl toward the sole of the foot or curve downward.
If your big toe points up and your little toes fan out, this is a “plantar rise” response, also known as “plantar movement.” Babinski sign, named after neurologist Joseph Babinski, who first reported it.it is It’s normal for your baby to have this reactionThe nervous system is still developing and cannot perform all the motor functions of an adult.
in adultHowever, finding the Babinski sign is a completely different story. Most commonly, it means that a stroke disrupts the normal brain circuits that control the legs.
Other causes These include multiple sclerosis and (rarely) drug addiction. However, Babinski’s sign may be observed during deep sleep even in otherwise healthy people.
The scope is much broader than just these conditions. Diabetes, kidney failure, and even thyroid disease can affect your feet. Therefore, regular checks are essential as they are important indicators of our health, and if you notice any pain, discoloration, or rash, seek medical attention.
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Dan Baumgart He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience at the University of Bristol, UK. Baumgart does not work for, consult, own stock in, or receive funding from any company or organization that might benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations other than an academic appointment. Not revealed.
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