Type 2 Diabetes in the Elderly People

Running head: DIABETES
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Title: Type 2 Diabetes in the Elderly People

DIABETES
Abstract
About 30 percent of the age above 65 years in the US are suffering from diabetes
mellitus. This is because aging is driver to diabetes. Mostly diabetes is described on the basis
of its consequences on the patient (mostly the working class), among the older generation it is
associated with high mortality rate and low body activity. The elderly people suffering from
diabetes mellitus are at a high risk of contracting the CVDs and other chronic infections.
Diabetes mellitus is expected to increase as life expectancy and the aging generation increase.
Apart from diabetes, CVDs and geriatric syndromes are rising complications among the older
people. Both in the younger and elderly patients, treatment of diabetes involves
hyperglycemia and risk factors. The treatment of diabetes should be individualized and take
in to consideration functional limitations and comorbid diseases. Hypotension, hypoglycemia
and drug interactions should be highly avoided in the treatment of elderly diabetes patients.

DIABETES
According to Dorrington & Bowdish (2013), the innate and adaptive changes in
immunity that occur as one ages are associated with the increased infections in the elderly.
The leukocyte produced on the bone marrow is biased towards the myeloid cells to the
neglect of naïve lymphocytes (Montgomery & Shaw, 2015). The reduced T cell and thymus
outputs are thought to be a cause of the reduced novel infections among the elderly (Geiger,
de Haan and Florian, 2013). The changes in B cells also contribute to the reduced response to
infections among the old as it alters the de novo antibody response (Aberle, Stiasny, Kundi
and Heinz, 2012). This raises the alarm for the clinicians and nurses to develop sensitivity
towards the needs of this generation. A study carried out in the United States between 1995
and 2004 shows that type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has increased from 16 percent to 23 percent
(Zhang, Decker, Luo, Geiss, Pearson, Saaddine, Gregg and Albright, 2010). For the current
generation, between 22 percent and 33 percent of the people above 65 years of age are
diagnosed with diabetes. It is also predicted that this number would increase by 4.5 times
before 2050 (Kirkman, Briscoe, Clark, Florez and Halter, 2012). This paper aims at
discussing type 2 diabetes among the elderly, its causes, effects, diagnosis, treatment and
management.
As age progresses, there is increased intolerance to glucose leading to the more
diabetes cases. Reduced B cell compensating capacity for the elderly generation leads to
insulin resistance and occurs as a postprandial hyperglycaemia. Diabetes mellitus prevalence
increase with increase with age and the elderly could be incidentally diagnosed after 65 years,
at the middle age of later. Different clinical and demographic requirements for the treatment
of diabetes mellitus for different ages causes confusion in the health care setting. Use of less
insulin and lower A1C are characteristic features of age related diabetes especially among the
non-Hispanic whites (Yakaryilmaz & Ozturk, 2017). Selvin, Coresh and Brancati (2006)
think that there is no difference between diabetes mellitus and CVDs prevalence among the