Amputations/Prosthetics
Physiatrists treat some 50,000 new amputees each year;
about one-third were a result of trauma and two-thirds were from vascular
diseases, usually diabetes. New technologies in prosthetics allow amputees to
return closer to their previous quality of life. Prosthetics are being made
with some of the same materials used in airplane wings—making them strong,
light, comfortable and durable. Because of these technologic developments,
there is now a leg amputee who runs less than two seconds slower than Olympian
Carl Lewis.
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