Insulin use in elderly diabetic patients

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing among older adults as is their diabetes-related mortality rate. Studies suggest that tighter glucose control reduces complications in elderly patients. However, too low a glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) value is associated with increased hypoglycemia. Moreover, the appropriateness of most clinical trial data and standards of care related to diabetes management in elderly patients is questionable given their heterogeneity. Having guidelines to safely achieve glycemic control in elderly patients is crucial. One of the biggest challenges in achieving tighter control is predicting when peak insulin action will occur. The clinician’s options have increased with new insulin analogs that physiologically match the insulin peaks of the normal glycemic state, enabling patients to achieve the tighter diabetes control in a potentially safer way. We discuss the function of insulin in managing diabetes and how the new insulin analogs modify that state. We offer some practical considerations for individualizing treatment for elderly patients with diabetes, including how to incorporate these agents into current regimens using several methods to help match carbohydrate intake with insulin requirements. Summarizing guidelines that focus on elderly patients hopefully will help reduce crises and complications in this growing segment of the population.     

Foot-ulcer prevention in the elderly diabetic patient.

Diabetic foot ulceration is frequently the result of repetitive trauma, foot deformity, malfunction, or ill-fitting footwear. The failure of such ulcers to heal is most often a consequence of the failure to provide protection from continuing trauma. Risk evaluation of the diabetic patient, with appropriate correction or accommodation of deformity or mechanical pressure, can be expected to reduce the incidence of serious infection secondary to ulceration.     

Home care of the elderly diabetic patient

As the anticipated growth of sophisticated diabetic services continues to accelerated in homes across America, physicians must first be educated as to the potentially unlimited spectrum of diabetic home care products and services that will become increasingly available to the patients whom they serve. Second, much research must be completed to critically examine the safety, quality, and cost issues of diabetic home care, to provide the necessary data to assure that home care services will be neither under- or over-utilized and will meet the necessary acute and long-term health care needs of our diabetic patients. Third, physicians must take a leadership role in examining the pitfalls of our existing expensive and often fragmented acute care-oriented health care model, which has not effectively addressed the increasing costs and incidence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, in our society. With computerization and the explosive mobilization of high-technology health care products and services, we are witnessing an exponential growth in the list of services available in the home setting for diabetic patients. There has never been a time in the history of medicine that we, as physicians, have needed to create new, innovative, high-quality approaches to necessary, accessible, and cost-effective alternative health care delivery systems as is the case now. I believe that the renewal of home care, with physician vision, direction, and review, will be a major step toward the highest-quality medical care provided to our diabetic patients at home.     

Insulin improves well-being for selected elderly type 2 diabetic subjects

The effects of insulin therapy on patient well-being, treatment satisfaction and mood, and on carer strain were studied in 30 elderly Type 2 diabetic patients (age 73 +/- 7 (SD) yr) in poor glycaemic control on tablet therapy. A comparison group of ten poorly controlled patients who remained on oral agents was also studied. After 4 weeks of insulin treatment, there were significant improvements in mental health, role-emotional, role-physical (all P<0.05) and vitality (P<0.01) domains of the short form health survey (SF-36), and also in the diabetes treatment and satisfaction questionnaire (DTSQ) and geriatric depression scale (both P<0.01) compared to baseline. After 12 weeks, the improvements in mental health, social functioning and vitality (P<0.01 for all domains), and in the DTSQ were sustained. Carer strain was lower at 4 weeks. No changes in outcomes were seen in the comparison group. In selected elderly Type 2 diabetic patients, insulin treatment is associated with significant improvements in well-being, treatment satisfaction and mood, even without significant improvements in glycaemic control and without increase in carer strain. The SF-36 and DTSQ are sensitive to the benefits of the changes in the treatment for these patients.     

Captopril in the treatment of the elderly hypertensive patient

As part of a large multicenter surveillance study of captopril, 975 hypertensive patients aged 65 years or older were treated, 418 of whom received the drug for at least 12 months. Blood pressure was lowered from an entry level of 193/105 +/- 30/16 (mean +/- SD) to 159/88 +/- 25/12 mm Hg, and side effects were infrequent. During treatment, renal function was undisturbed in the majority of patients. The frequency of clinically evident hypotensive episodes did not differ from that found in the total study population, suggesting that in this age group, despite the reduction in blood pressure, cerebral perfusion was maintained. This experience suggests that captopril can be used for the treatment of the elderly hypertensive patient.     

老年糖尿病患者足病变的诊断与防治

糖尿病足的定义是发生于糖尿病患者的与局部神经异常和下肢远端外周血管病变相关的足部感染、溃疡和／或深层组织破坏。国外的资料说明，所有的因糖尿病有关问题的住院中，糖尿病足占到47％。糖尿病足溃疡和截肢所带来的医疗耗费巨大，在美国此项费用几乎相当于其余糖尿病并发症的医疗花费的总和。     

The non-drug treatment of hypertension in the diabetic patient

A wide range of non-pharmacological manoeuvres have been tried for the control of BP but the majority of studies have not examined diabetic patients. Alteration of individual dietary components is difficult to achieve and results difficult to interpret. A high fibre, low fat, moderate salt restricted diet is as efficacious as drug therapy in some hypertensive diabetic patients. Similar diets have been recommended for all diabetic patients by the British Diabetic Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. This diet has the added advantage of improving glycaemic control and plasma lipid profiles. The benefits of behavioral modifications are variable, with some being better than placebo. Although there is no evidence for a hypertensive effect of smoking, it should be strongly discouraged in diabetic patients because of the added cardiovascular risk it places upon them. Studies of dietary control of BP indicate that a response should be observed after three months of treatment. If blood pressure remains elevated after this time the patient should be treated with pharmacological agents. Hyperinsulinaemia may be important in the pathogenesis of Type II diabetes, coronary artery disease and essential hypertension. Dietary manoeuvres which reduce plasma insulin levels may prove to be of benefit in all of these conditions, but as yet data are not available to support this hypothesis.     

Metformin treatment in elderly type II diabetic patients

Pharmacological treatment in elderly patients with type II, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is becoming a growing and complex problem in the clinical practice, since longevity in almost every population is increasing, and the prevalence of NIDDM also rises with age. It is generally indicated that age over 65-70 years represents a specific contraindication against the administration of the biguanides since the risk of the drug-associated lactic acidosis increases with age. However very few data exist in literature about the effect of biguanides, particularly metformin, in aging patients. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effects of adding metformin to poorly controlled sulfonylurea-treated elderly diabetic subjects for a one year period. Eighty-four type II diabetic patients aged more than 70 years and with a poor glycemic control were recruited after an informed consent. All diabetic patients were treated with various sulfonylureas at medium doses and presented renal and liver biochemical function tests within normal ranges and were free of severe macroangiopathy and respiratory or congestive heart failure. Metformin treatment was added to the previous sulfonylurea dosages in order to achieve a satisfactory glycemic control. All patients showed a marked improvement in the glycemic control with no significant modification in fasting blood lactate and a mild increase in the post-prandial lactate peak which, however, always felt largely within the normal ranges. Metformin also improved some metabolic vascular risk factors such as plasma cholesterol levels that were reduced, circulating HDL-cholesterol levels that mildly but significantly increased and uric acid that was lowered. In conclusion our data further support the opinion that metformin has not to be denied to diabetic patients on the sole basis of their age.     

Pathophysiologic considerations in the treatment of the elderly hypertensive patient

Changes that occur as a consequence of aging can influence the development of hypertension and its complications. Such changes may adversely affect cardiac function and tissue blood flow and the responsiveness of the circulation to antihypertensive therapy. The distribution and metabolism of antihypertensive drugs may also be influenced by aging. These factors can complicate the pharmacologic management of the elderly hypertensive patient and may lead to a higher incidence of side effects. A conservative approach to the treatment of isolated systolic hypertension is indicated because the merits of therapy remain uncertain. Although standard stepped-care treatment can be used, certain special precautions should be considered. Lower doses of medications are generally required in elderly than in young hypertensives. Hypokalemia and volume contraction are the more frequent and more clinically important complications of diuretic therapy, while sluggishness, sexual dysfunction, or decreased mentation are more commonly observed with sympatholytic agents. Complications from beta-adrenergic blockers also are relatively frequent in elderly persons. Calcium-channel blockers, although not approved in the United States for the treatment of hypertension, may be beneficial in these patients. When diastolic hypertension is also present, a vigorous approach to lowering blood pressure should be used because the benefits of such therapy have been well documented. However, similar precautions should be used in these patients as in those with systolic hypertension.     

老年糖尿病足防治的重要原则

糖尿病足的定义是发生于糖尿病患者的与局部神经异常和下肢血管病变相关的足部感染、溃疡和／或深层组织破坏。糖尿病足病是严重的糖尿病慢性并发症,从足皮肤到骨与关节的各层组织均可受累,严重者町以发生局部的或全足的坏疽,需要截肢。截肢可以严重地影响患者的生活质量,并增加对侧截肢的危险性。糖尿病足病可以迁延不愈,也可以发展迅速,短期内病情急转直下,严重致残,甚至死亡。糖尿病足病更多地发生于老年糖尿病患者,尤其是合并多种糖尿病并发症的老年患者。     

Prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism in the elderly patient

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication among hospitalized patients. Pharmacological thromboprophylaxis has emerged as the cornerstone for VTE prevention. As trials on thromboprophylaxis in medical patients have proven the efficacy of both low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) and unfractionated heparin (UFH), all acutely medical ill patients should be considered for pharmacological thromboprophylaxis. Unlike in the surgical setting where the risk of associated VTE attributable to surgery is well recognized, and where widespread use of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis and early mobilization has resulted in significant reductions in the risk of VTE, appropriate VTE prophylaxis is under-used in medical patients. Many reasons for this under-use have been identified, including low perceived risk of VTE in medical patients, absence of optimal tools for risk assessment, heterogeneity of patients and their diseases, and fear of bleeding complications. A consistent group among hospitalized medical patients is composed of elderly patients with impaired renal function, a condition potentially associated with bleeding. How these patients should be managed is discussed in this review. Particular attention is devoted to LMWHs and fondaparinux and to measures to improve the safety and the efficacy of their use.