LEAP Alliance Las Vegas Copyright 2009
News & Views
A LEAP Alliance demonstration program that recruits pedicurists to help prevent amputations is happening in Las Vegas. A free preventive foot screening program that enables the early detection of the “Silent Killers” – diabetic neuropathy and peripheral artery disease that may or may not be related to diabetes -- is now available to the public in the Spirals Hair and Nail Studio, 8544 Del Webb Blvd, Las Vegas, announced Arlene Rubin, co-founder of the nonprofit Lower Extremity Amputation Prevention (LEAP) Alliance. Diabetics and persons over age 65 who are at risk of these diseases can call 702/255-6544 and ask for an appointment for the Silent Killers Free Foot Screening Program.
Early detection and prompt treatment of diabetic neuropathy and peripheral artery disease can prevent years of pain and suffering from severe, life threatening complications. The foot screening program in the Spirals nail salon and other Las Vegas area locations is spearheaded by The LEAP Alliance in collaboration with Volunteer Members of Southern Nevada Lions Clubs, the Preventive Health Care Clinic in the Summerlin Hospital Medical Office Building, participating area podiatrists, and Nancy DeMay, manager of Spirals Hair and Nail Studio.
"A nail salon where pedicures are performed and shoes and stockings are already off is an ideal location for nail technicians to tell their clients and others they know about their free foot screening program for the Silent Killers," says Lawrence Rubin, a retired podiatrist who is the co-founder of the LEAP Alliance and Chairman of the Diabetes Programs for Nevada Lions Clubs. Rubin has educated the Spirals nail technician staff to explain to their clients that finding undiagnosed nerve or artery disease in the feet not only can prevent the agony of serious foot complications and eventual leg amputations, it can also signal the need for additional screening of the coronary arteries to detect undiagnosed coronary artery disease.
When screening reveals potential foot problems, persons are advised to have medical follow up with their own podiatrist or one of the podiatrists helping to provide the free foot screening program.
According to DeMay, clients of the nail salon are at first surprised to find out that not only can they get their toenails to look pretty in her shop, they can also get a free foot screening that may eventually save their lives. “But when our nail techs explain how important checking their feet for disease is, especially if our client is diabetic, they not only make an appointment for themselves, they tell all their friends about the program,” she says.
“It’s a new twist in preventive health care, and if working along with pedicurists ends up with saving legs and lives, I am all for it,” says Allan J. Stahl, MD, cardiologist Medical Director of the Preventive Health Care Clinic in the Summerlin Hospital Medical Office Building.
For more information about preventive foot screenings, the LEAP Alliance and its programs, or area Lions Clubs, contact Lawrence M. Rubin, DPM - [email protected].
Pedicurists help to prevent amputations
Foot screenings are brief foot exams for adult persons with Type 2 Diabetes to identify circulatory problems, diabetic neuropathy, and other conditions that can lead to severe lower extremity complications and amputations.
Bare Your Soles
Take advantage of the
Free Diabetes
Foot Screening Program
provided in cooperation with the Nevada Lions Clubs
Lions Hunt for Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) Free Foot Screening Program
Las Vegas & Henderson Nevada
Photo: Nancy DeMay, Manager of Spirals Hair and Nail Studio shows a client how a simple nylon filament pressed against the soles of her feet will be used by a podiatrist or other physician to look for signs of neuropathy in her feet.
