Treatment Of Diabetes In The Elderly

Treatment Of Diabetes In The Elderly.
Better diabetes therapy has slashed rates of complications such as consideration attacks, strokes and amputations in older adults, a uncharted study shows. "All the event rates, if you look at them, everything is a lot better than it was in the 1990s, dramatically better," said reading author Dr Elbert Huang, an associate professor of nostrum at the University of Chicago. The study also found that hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar - a lesser effect of medications that control diabetes - has become one of the top problems seen in seniors, suggesting that doctors may desideratum to rethink drug regimens as patients age.

The findings, published online Dec 9, 2013 in JAMA Internal Medicine, are based on more than 72000 adults elderly 60 and older with genre 2 diabetes. They are being tracked through the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Diabetes Registry. Researchers tallied diabetic complications by era and length of time with the disease. People with personification 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, have too much sugar in the blood.

It's estimated that ruthlessly 23 million people have type 2 diabetes in the United States, about half of them older than 60. Many more are expected to exhibit diabetes in coming years. In general, complications of diabetes tended to go from bad to worse as people got older, the study found. They were also more hard-hearted in people who'd lived with the disease longer. Heart disease was the chief complication seen in seniors who'd lived with the infirmity for less than 10 years.

For every 1000 seniors followed for a year, there were about eight cases of ticker disease diagnosed in those under age 70, about 11 cases in those in their 70s, and roughly 15 cases for those ancient 80 and older. Among those aged 80 or older who'd had diabetes for more than a decade, there were 24 cases of pity disease for every 1000 people who were followed for a year. That's a big chuck from just a decade ago, when a prior study found rates of heart disease in elderly diabetics to be about seven times higher - 182 cases for every 1000 colonize followed for a year.

Ways To Help Prevent Falls In The Home

Ways To Help Prevent Falls In The Home.
For American seniors, a eclipse can have disabling or even final consequences. And a new study finds that the appraise of older people who suffer a fall is actually on the rise. A research side led by Dr Christine Cigolle, of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, tracked jingoistic data from adults aged 65 and older. They found that the number of older adults with at least one self-reported capitulate in the past two years rose from about 28 percent in 1998 to about 36 percent in 2010. "Contrary to our hypothesis, we observed an augmentation in fall rule among older adults that exceeds what would be expected owing to the increasing age of the population," the researchers said.

According to Cigolle's team, falling remains the most trite cause of injury among older Americans, and it's believed that about one-third of seniors will withstand a fall each year. Two experts stressed that there are ways seniors can stoop their odds for a tumble, however. "Interactive educational programs that discipline senior citizens how to strengthen their muscles and retain their balance are important to help this population rehabilitate their balance and strength and, thus, decrease their risk of falls," said Grace Rowan, a registered Florence Nightingale and leader of the falls prevention program at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, NY Dr Matthew Hepinstall plant at the Center for Joint Preservation and Reconstruction at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.