While diabetes symptoms are wide-ranging, a great number of complications can occur in the feet due to nerve damage.

A little-recognised complication of the condition is causing severe damage to patients' feet through the destruction of joints and bones.

Charcot Foot develops when diabetic patients lose sensation in their feet and cannot feel injuries that progressively worsen.

The condition affects both type 1 and type 2 diabetes sufferers when high blood sugar levels lead to nerve damage.

Charcot foot is observed in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes

According to Kristen Fuller, a physician who spoke to GB News, "Charcot foot is a chronic and progressive disease resulting in destruction of the joints, bones and ligament in the foot and ankle due to the loss of protective sensation".

Patients and healthcare providers should watch for early warning signs of the condition, with Fuller identifying "signs such as swelling, redness, and warmth" as indicators of the condition's early stages.

The mechanism behind this condition involves diabetic neuropathy, a chronic complication that "destroys nerve endings".

By hindering the brain's ability to sense pain, patients unknowingly continue walking on injured feet. Naturally, this compounds the damage.

"When this happens, people cannot feel pain or any type of sensation in the feet and if there is an ulcer, blister or any type of injury, there is no protective pain mechanism to alert the person that 'hey this hurts, I need to stop walking on it, or put a bandage on it and see a doctor'," Fuller explained.

"Rather, they continue going about their day, and this injury becomes worse, destroying the feet, resulting in Charcot foot."

Fuller noted: "High sugars over time damage small blood vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to the nerves, and without the proper oxygen and nutrients, these nerves die off."

"Bones and tissue need nutrients and oxygen-rich blood to live, but when the blood vessels become damaged, the tissue supply starves and eventually breaks down."

Over time, the combination of tissue starvation and continued walking on injured feet can accelerate bone destruction, creating severe deformities.

Blood sugar levels should carefully be managed to protect the feet

The progressive nature of the disease makes early detection crucial.

Fuller emphasised that without intervention, the cycle of injury continues: "When tissue starves, it eventually dies.

"In addition to starving tissue, any type of injury further damages the bones in the feet, and when nerve endings are damaged, people cannot feel the injury, so they continue walking on an already injured foot, creating even more damage to the bones."

To protect the feet, Fuller stresses the importance of adequate blood sugar management.

She added: "Moisturise, clip toenails, inspect feet, wear fitting socks and shoes, keep feet dry and clean, avoid walking barefoot. Stop smoking. See a doctor for yearly foot exams."