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When a loved one has been diagnosed with diabetes, you naturally want to do everything you can to ensure their continued good health and quality of life. But where do you start? What should you know?
To help provide you with the answers you need, the American Geriatrics Society has developed an understandable set of guidelines for improving the care of elderly loved ones with diabetes.
Specifically designed with the needs of the seniors with diabetes in mind, these guidelines take into consideration that older people with diabetes:
- Experience higher rates of premature death and mental and physical disability
- Are more prone to develop coexisting illnesses, including high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke
- Have an increased risk for several common conditions associated with the aging process, such as depression, reduced mental function, urinary incontinence, harmful falls, persistent pain and overmedication.
Knowing the associated risks of diabetes is one of the most important things you can do to make certain your loved one receives proper care at all times. Another vital component of care is customization. As emphasized by the guidelines, no two people are alike and every person needs a customized diabetes care plan. What works for one individual may not be the best course of treatment for another, since some people are fairly healthy and can manage their diabetes on their own while others may have one or more diabetes complications. Still others may be frail, have memory loss and have several chronic diseases in addition to diabetes.
After talking with your loved one and evaluating their medical history, your doctor will assess whether tight blood sugar control or some other treatment approach is appropriate. Depending upon the doctor’s recommendations, keep in mind that:
- Tight blood glucose control can lower the risks of diabetes-related blindness and kidney disease caused by small blood vessel damage.
- The risk of heart attack or stroke can be diminished with proper blood pressure and cholesterol management.