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Chapter 30 - Diabetes mellitus in the older adult

from Section III - Care of the elderly by organ system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2016

By
Lisa B. Caruso
Edited by
Jan Busby-Whitehead ,
Christine Arenson ,
Samuel C. Durso ,
Daniel Swagerty ,
Laura Mosqueda ,
Maria Fiatarone Singh  and
William Reichel
Jan Busby-Whitehead
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina
Christine Arenson
Affiliation:
Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
Samuel C. Durso
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Daniel Swagerty
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
Laura Mosqueda
Affiliation:
University of Southern California
Maria Fiatarone Singh
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
William Reichel
Affiliation:
Georgetown University, Washington DC
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Summary

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a dominant chronic disease in the older adult population in the United States as well as in many other countries of the world. The prevalence of DM in the future is only expected to grow with the increase in the population of older adults, the prevalence of obesity, and physical inactivity. Clinicians are faced with many unique challenges when caring for this older diabetic population. The clinician’s major challenges are 1) to avoid symptoms and complications of hyper- and hypoglycemia, 2) to minimize or delay micro- and macrovascular complications, if possible, and 3) to maximize daily functioning. Underlying these challenges is the realization that the geriatric population is a heterogeneous one. Goals of care and treatment decisions may vary, depending more on the patient’s functional abilities and on other comorbidities or co-existing geriatric syndromes, and less on the chronological age of the patient. After a diagnosis of diabetes in the older adult, diabetes care requires lifestyle modifications and glycemic control strategies, in addition to prevention and management of cardiovascular, eye, and foot disease.
Type
Chapter
Information
Reichel's Care of the Elderly
Clinical Aspects of Aging
 , pp. 421 - 435
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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