Why does gangrene spread if it is just caused by the loss of blood to a body part?

Answer 1

There are 3 types of gangrene.Dry,moist and gas.Gangrene is a decay of tissue or organ caused by injury,infection or chronic disease such as Diabetes,and a lack of blood supply to the tissue or organ.
My grandmother was Diabetic and got an ingrown toenail.She cut it out herself and got gangrene in her toe.She refused to allow the doctor to take her toe off,so it spread up to her calf.Still she refused to allow the doctor to do surgery.Finally it got up to her knee and she died.

Diagnosis:death from gangrene secondary to ingrown toenail,and complication of diabetes.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Gangrene is more than loss of blood. It's the death and decay of cells. When cells lose the blood, they can survive only for a limited time, less than a few hours, then they start to die. A natural reaction of the body is for cells to basically retreat from decaying matter. So the cells closest to the dead cells begin to die because the body pulls back more of the blood, this is to prevent to spread of infection but also because, more than likely, the reason the blood stopped to begin with was injury. The injury would cause clots, stopping the bleeding and the healing process only works in live cells.

Answer 4

Gangrene is a bacterial infection it can spread throughout the body if left untreated, killing flesh and travelling through the body's systems. If you have gangrene you most certainly develop septicaemia or blood poisoning which can eventually kill you, that is why medics prefer to cut off extremities and stop it spreading where necessary.

Answer 5

Gangrene can also be caused by bacterial infection and subsequent putrefaction (rot). Once gangrene starts it sets up a chain reaction. There is no blood flow to the gangrenous area, it is dead tissue and blood pools above it. This causes further necrosis (pooled blood or no blood supply can do this). Again blood pools above this area and necrosis results again. If left untreated, death is the ultimate result. There is more than one type of gangrene -- dry, moist and gas.

Answer 6

Because it is an infection. It isn't caused by loss of blood per se. It is caused by the infection.

Loss of blood simply reduces the body's defences to the point where it can take hold. Once it has taken hold, it is pretty hard to stop and can spread even to parts that have fully working defences.

My advice - take a red hot axe and chop off the offending part before it spreads too far!

Answer 7

oh no! First thing's first. It should have been disinfected. Now, try to disinfect it after cleaning the area. If you really can't afford a doctor, call an animal shelter close by to tell them what happened. They may know what to do. Also hospitals sometimes give free care when a patient has no insurance until they are set up on Medicare, depending on how bad the accident is (they are not supposed to let you die). Try this if it's your last resort and nothing helps.

Answer 8

Because the blood can't circulate past where it's already gone gangrenous, so it just backups and makes the problem worse.

Answer 9

isn't gangrene when the area of body has no blood so there is no protection againsnt infection so infection is spread

Answer 10

ok, this is pretty gross, but its my story. i had a bike accident back in 83, i lost 5or six inches of my lower right leg where it was crushed between the bike and the car bumper... yes it hurt, and they tried to repair the damage.

so i get rushed to hospital, where they operated and inverted me. and within four days it went from red, to black, and it stunk like dead meat in a butchers.... no circulation, necrotic tissue, and decay equal gangrene. dead limb syndrome.. so the doc approaches nervously...(this was teh day before my 26th birthday) he told me what was happening and i said, go sharpen your knife, he asked if i knew what it meant, and i replied, if i dont loose teh leg, itll kill me, all ive got to do is learn to walk again... that was 20 odd years ago... im 50 in a few months...