Diagnosis dismay

I was most interested to read Ella Pickover’s article on page 16 of The Scotsman on Saturday regarding Charcot-marietooth (CMT).

Although I had surgery for a hammer toe in 1946 (prenhs) and have had very poor balance all my days and was also diagnosed as having type2 diabetes 30 years ago, it was not until September 2017 that I was diagnosed as having Charcot Foot. Over a four-month period at that time the front part of my right foot deviated to the side by over 60mm while the front part of my left foot deviated only slightly less.

Nothing was done to restrain those deviations and the best estimates are that any remedial surgery now would involve a recuperation period of at least many months. With the attendant risks for a diabetic sufferer with foot problems born in the early 1930s, that is not an attractive prospect, although, on the other hand I am extremely lucky that the problem was not triggered until this late period of my life.

I feel very sorry indeed for any young person facing those kinds of problems in presentday Britain.

IRVINE INGLIS Reston, Berwickshire