Diabetes mellitus affects more than 100 million individuals worldwide and, because of known risk factors common to many individuals that can be manipulated, the development of type 2 diabetes may potentially be…

Elderly diabetic individuals are hospitalized about twice as often as elderly people without diabetes. In the NHANES II study, only 16.5% of individuals 65 to 74 years old without diabetes reported…

Approximately 3% to 5% of the population over the age of 65 live in nursing homes. One-third of elderly individuals will spend some time in…

UKPDS 38 evaluated the effect of hypertension control on diabetic outcomes. The study involved the randomization of 1148 hypertensive patients (mean age, 56.4 years), to either tight blood…

The UKPDS 33 investigated whether tight control of blood glucose in type 2 diabetic patients reduced the risk of microvascular or macrovascular disease. Patients over age 65 were excluded from…

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) was a randomized, controlled trial of individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus (aged 13-39 years) comparing the effect of intensive blood glucose…

Classic symptoms of polyuria or polydipsia are rarely present. Glucose is not spilled into the urine until the plasma glucose is markedly elevated because the renal threshold for glucose increases with age. Polydipsia…

A strong genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and elderly patients exists. The specific genes responsible have not been discovered. Patients with a family history of diabetes are…

Glucose intolerance associated with aging itself may predispose to the development of overt diabetes mellitus. Glucose intolerance is present even in very healthy older individuals. Postprandial…

It had been hoped for many years that intensive treatment of diabetes mellitus would reverse or defer significantly its major complications of microvascular and macrovascular disease, stroke, and heart attack, and be…

The diagnosis of diabetes mellitus is made primarily through the findings of elevated glucoses on fasting laboratory samples, random glucoses during outpatient or inpatient care, and, much…

A variety of metabolic, sensory, and cardiovascular conditions accompany the widespread prevalence of diabetes in the elderly and contribute to the reduced life expectancy that occurs with diabetes. Life expectancy…