Hypoglycemia

This review takes a practical approach to the assessment, nursing care, and medical treatment of diabetes in the elderly, highlighting major challenges and suggesting solutions to common clinical problems.

The drive to achieve lower HbA1c targets in older patients is not without concern or risk. Our UK Board address concerns highlighted by recent trials and discuss whether current guidelines do enough to mitigate the risks of overtreatment.

A bidirectional relationship between depression and severe dysglycemia exists among older people with type 1 diabetes, indicating a need for increased vigilance in this population.

Research suggests that older diabetes patients, particularly those using insulin, often have nonspecific symptoms of hypoglycemia that are overlooked by healthcare providers.

An EASD session on optimizing patient outcomes included research into the effect of guideline adherence, predictors of changes in medication adherence, and overtreatment of older people with diabetes.