News, Older diabetics struggle with blood sugar control.

[Rob43]

NEW YORK -- The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is rising in the U.S. elderly population, and nearly half of affected individuals fail to adequately control their blood sugar, new research shows.

The current study's findings, in context of the projected increase in the elderly population, have critical public health and healthcare cost implications," Dr. Dong-Churl Suh, of Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, and colleagues warn in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Suh's team assessed changes over time in treatment and control of diabetes using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2004, and compared findings with those obtained in NHANES III conducted between 1988 and 1994.

They found that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes increased significantly, from 12.0 percent to 14.1 percent. Diabetic subjects were more likely to be classified as obese during the latter survey period (37 percent vs. 51 percent).

They also found that the proportion of elderly patients being treated for their diabetes increased, diabetes control improved, and the proportion of patients with high blood pressure and high cholesterol declined.

Still, only 55 percent of diabetic patients achieved adequate blood sugar control between 1999 and 2004. The researchers' analyses showed that blood sugar control was better in patients without other co-morbid illnesses, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Suh and colleagues caution that as duration of diabetes increases in older patients, and multiple therapies become necessary to maintain good blood sugar control, drug contraindications...may limit options in elderly people, "putting them at greater risk of functional and cognitive impairment."

Older diabetics struggle with blood sugar control - The China Post (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/health/diabetes/2008/04/20/152774/Older-diabetics.htm)

[Evermont]

...Yet nearly all of them would very much like to get older.

[Mich]

I've found this to be absolutely true.

I'm not sure why. It could be nerve damage, it could be (as they mention) the extra meds piling up in my body. (I try to keep those at a minimum.) Things that caused hardly a blip on the radar in my 20's and 30's can spike me. Chasing a morning high is harder--it lasts longer.

I know that I am physically easier on my body now that I have a little stiffness in the mornings, I pick up dropped items off the floor with a little less **umph** than I used to. Activity decline? I try to make up for this in other ways.

And I'm a type 1. I pretty much know how to "do" diabetes. I wonder how many of these things make it tough for older type 2 diabetics to control things and instead they are given a bad time by their advisors who assume it's all the diabetic's fault.

It will be interesting to follow this information in the future.

Mich

[Penny]

I have been dealing with Diabetes for at least 40 years, although the way to do it has changed over the years, I always strive to have control. At this point, I work hard at it and still struggle to keep good control. One of the reasons I like my doctor is that he does realize how hard I work, he doesn't know why I still have problems, but he doesn't blame me for it....just keeps looking for ways to help. My arthritis is so bad now, it is difficult to even walk. I know if I could do more it would make a difference. I also know I could probably find a way to get more exercise, but I really get tired of dealing with all the aches and pains that come with it. I take so much medication now, I am reluctant to add pain medications. I am glad that someone is at least trying to find out more about us old people :D and understanding that what works at even 40 might not work at 60.