Over 19 million Americans have diabetes; up to 95% of these cases are type 2. In addition, 26% of Americans age 20 and older (and 40% of Americans age 65 and older) have impaired fasting glucose, a pre-diabetes condition that increases the risk for diabetes. According to a 2006 study, a total of 73 million Americans either have diabetes or are at risk of developing it.
High blood pressure is becoming an increasingly common problem. People in the United States have been sleeping less each night, leading some people to suspect that the two factors are related. When people with high and normal blood pressure are studied, they have increased blood pressure when their sleep is cut short. Other studies show that women who get too little sleep are more likely to have a heart attack.
The excess global mortality attributable to diabetes in the year 2000 was estimated to be 2.9 million deaths, equivalent to 5.2% of all deaths. Excess mortality attributable to diabetes accounted for 2–3% of deaths in poorest countries and over 8% in the U.S., Canada, and the Middle East. In people 35–64 years old, 6–27% of deaths were attributable to diabetes.These are the first global estimates of mortality attributable to diabetes.
Globally, diabetes is likely to be the fifth leading cause of death.In individuals with diabetes younger than 35 years, 75% of all deaths were attributable to diabetes; in individuals with diabetes aged 35–64 years, 59% of deaths were attributable to diabetes; while in individuals with diabetes and older than 64 years, 29% of all deaths were attributable to diabetes.of course, there are the catastrophic events that people fear as they grow older, the strokes and hip fractures that cause, at least temporarily, sharp declines in mobility, that, at best, level out to the earlier rates of slower decline.
There are so many factors among older diabets.Persons of low socioeconomic status are known to have reduced life expectancy. In a study of the relation of socioeconomic status to disability-free or active life expectancy among older persons, we analyzed prospectively gathered data on 2219 blacks and 1838 whites who were 65 years of age or older in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. We defined disability as the inability to perform independently one or more basic functional activities such as walking, bathing, dressing, eating, and using the toilet.
With age, your kidneys become less efficient in removing waste from your bloodstream. Chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and some medications can damage your kidneys further.About 30 percent of people age 65 and older experience a loss of bladder control (urinary incontinence). Incontinence can be caused by a number of health problems, such as obesity, frequent constipation and chronic cough.
Depression in the older adult can be disabling, contributing to problems with activities of daily living and thus increasing their dependence on others and the health care system (Oslin, Streim, Katz, Edell, and TenHave, 2000). Reynolds and Kupfer (1999) argue that depression in later life has serious consequences, including increased health costs, patient and caregiver distress, amplified disabilities, and increased mortality related to medical illness and suicide. In fact, there is evidence that depression in the elderly is strongly associated with poor cognitive function and decline
Subjects experiencing hypertension, obesity and diabetes are less likely to survive into their later years.Advanced age is associated with changes in sleep architecture with increased difficulties in sleep initiation and maintenance. Elderly subjects, who are often retired, also have more opportunities to take naps during the day. Sleep disordered breathing is associated with hypertension in subjects below the age of 60 years but not in subjects 60 years of age or older.
Healthy adults age 45 and older should get tested for diabetes. Patients who are younger than age 45 and who are overweight or have other risk factors should also ask their doctors about testing.Patients with diabetes often have high blood pressure, lipid imbalances, and circulatory disorders that affect the heart and vascular system. Research suggests that diabetes can also affect cognitive function and increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The number of cells (neurons) in your brain decreases with age, and your memory becomes less efficient. However, in some areas of your brain, the number of connections between the cells increases, perhaps helping to compensate for the aging neurons and maintain brain function. Your reflexes tend to become slower. You also tend to become less coordinated.
Older mothers have a higher risk of pregnancy-related complications, such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. These problems can lead to Caesarean delivery.There's a greater chance that your cervix will be slow to dilate, which also may lead to a C-section.Diabetes is known to be a potential cause of impotence among men. This can, as discussed elsewhere in the article, be treated medically.Arthritis may cause pain and discomfort when having sex.
Nearly all patients who inherit Down syndrome develop changes in the brain that resemble Alzheimer's if they live into their 40s, although onset varies and can occur as late as age 70. Women under the age of 35, but not older mothers, who give birth to children with Down syndrome are also at much higher risk for Alzheimer's.
Over time, your heart muscle becomes a less efficient pump, working harder to pump the same amount of blood through your body. Also, your blood vessels become less elastic. Hardened fatty deposits may form on the walls of your arteries (atherosclerosis), narrowing the passageway through the vessels. The natural loss of elasticity, in combination with atherosclerosis, makes your arteries stiffer, causing your heart to work even harder to pump blood through them. This can lead to high blood pressure (hypertension).
People who develop diabetes late in life often suffer from a range of diabetes-related complications, and their life expectancy is shorter than that of nondiabetic individuals of the same age, a new study shows.
The investigators, Dr. Frank A. Sloan, of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues point out in the Archives of Internal Medicine that "little is known about the impact of diabetes mellitus in elderly populations."
The researchers examined illness and mortality rates in 33,772 Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes and in 25,563 similar people without diabetes ("controls") over a 14 year period.
The death rate was over 9 percentage points higher among the people with diabetes than the control patients. Being newly diagnosed as diabetic translated into a loss of life expectancy of just over 2 years.
Overall, 92 percent of the diabetes group experienced an adverse health event compared with 72 percent of the control group.
Disorders affecting the legs and complications associated with surgery were higher among patients with diabetes. Furthermore, 58 percent of those with diabetes were diagnosed with heart failure, compared with 34 percent of the control group. While kidney disease and retinal eye disorders were less common, both increased markedly in the diabetic group.
"Although the present data provide no insight into the cause of these patterns, the burden of diabetes mellitus complications on the individual and on the health care system is enormous," the researchers conclude.
A new research shows that fecal incontinence is prevalent among U.S. women, especially those in older age groups, those who have had numerous babies, women whose deliveries were assisted by forceps or vacuum devices, and those who have had a hysterectomy.Many women in the study who had fecal incontinence also had another medical condition, such as major depression or diabetes, and often experienced urinary incontinence in addition to FI.
The crude death rate was 5.1 deaths per 1,000 population in 1997, 4.5 in 1998, and 4.8 in 1999. During 1996- 2000, there were about 92 deaths per year but no maternal deaths. The leading causes of death in 2000 were diseases of the circulatory system (33.3%) malignant neoplasms for (23.7%), and external causes for (7.5%) of total deaths with defined cause (93 cases). The age group most affected was persons age 65 years and older (59 deaths), followed by persons age 20-59 years (23 deaths), and infants (6 deaths).
With age, your eyes are less able to produce tears, your retinas thin, and your lenses gradually turn yellow and become less clear. In your 40s, focusing on objects that are close up may become more difficult.Hearing loss is one of the most common conditions affecting adults who are middle-aged and older.How your teeth and gums respond to age depends on how well you've cared for them over the years.With age, your skin thins and becomes less elastic and more fragile. You'll likely notice that you bruise more easily. Decreased production of natural oils may make your skin drier and more wrinkled. Age spots can occur, and skin tags are more common.Diabetes aggravate all of those conditions further.
Experts told that diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity are among the multi-factorial disorders that occur at a higher prevalence in older age groups. Their prevalence is affected by both genetic and environmental factors. We investigated the distribution of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity.A significant increase was observed in the prevalence of diabetes, obesity and hypertension with age in both males and females. In addition, the prevalence of obesity and overweight was significantly higher in the individuals with diabetes mellitus.
Common Misconceptions About Diabetes in Older Adults
1. The high prevalence of diabetes in older adults is inevitable.
2. Hyperglycemia in the older adult population is usually a benign condition.
3. Reduced life expectancy makes the consequences of chronic hyperglycemia irrelevant.
4. The majority of older adults with type 2 diabetes are obese and need to lose weight.
5. Older patients are less capable of self-monitoring of blood glucose.
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