Older Diabetics More Susceptible to Hypoglycemia
Older Diabetics More Susceptible to Hypoglycemia – Researchers found that many older diabetics end up with hypoglycemia or loww blood sugar because they do too good a job of controlling their blood sugar.
Researchers used data on 1,288 diabetics age 65 or older, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 2001 through 2010. To see how tightly these patients were controlling their blood sugar, the researchers measured a substance in the blood called hemoglobin A1c. A1c reflects a person’s average blood sugar levels over the past three months.The reading for those without diabetes is under 5.7 percent, those with pre-diabetes between 5.7 and 6.4 percent, while those with diabetes have over 6.4 percent. Diabetics usually strive to keep this number under 7 percent.
Almost two-thirds of the older partcipants kept the number under 7 percent, putting them at risk for hypoglycemia. An earlier study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that more than three million older people with diabetes would benefit from a reduction in medication.
According to Dr. David Aron of the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, hypoglycemia is a major cause of emergency room visits. Symptoms, which include blurry vision, apid heartbeat, headache, hunger, shaking or trembling, sweating, tiredness or weakness or feeling faint, trouble sleeping, unclear thinking, can sometimes be subtle and older people may not recognize them as such.
The study shows that better education is needed for both doctors and patients in managing diabetes treatment. More….
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