Older adults and type 2 diabetes

Glycated hemoglobin levels deteriorate only slowly in most type 2 diabetes patients who are newly diagnosed when aged 70 years or older, say researchers.

Cardiovascular complications, and heart failure in particular, are strongly associated with poor survival in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes, French observational study data show.

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.