Study finds more elderly develop diabetes
It's our own fault! :rolleyes:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080128...E2RHNxqhVDVJRIF Back to Story - Help Study finds more elderly develop diabetes By Andrew Stern Mon Jan 28, 4:20 PM ET More elderly Americans are contracting diabetes and the majority develop complications such as heart disease that might be prevented if they properly monitored their health, a researcher said on Monday. (bolding mine) The study of Medicare beneficiaries found 2.7 percent of a group of 1.5 million enrollees in the government-funded insurance program for the elderly were diagnosed with diabetes in 2003, compared to 2.2 percent diagnosed in 1994. Overall, one-quarter of those 65 or older had type-2 diabetes in 2003, up from 15 percent in 1994, the report said. The 1.5 million people studied represented a group of 5 percent of Medicare enrollees whose health is being tracked by the program. "The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing, in part because of population aging, but also in younger persons," Frank Sloan of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Making matters worse, nine out of 10 of those diagnosed with diabetes in 1994 and 1999 developed some other ailment within six years of diagnosis, against seven out of 10 of elderly without diabetes who were studied for comparison purposes. Diabetes damages blood circulation and is known to increase the risks of heart disease, blindness and skin ulcers, among other ailments. "What we're concerned about is the rate of complications," Sloan said in a telephone interview. "Our overall conclusion is they're not getting any better" over time, he said, citing increasing cases of kidney function deterioration and lower extremity problems, which can result in foot amputations. "It shouldn't be happening if you're monitoring your blood pressure, your cholesterol, keeping your blood glucose in line, getting your eyes checked, getting your feet checked, so the complications can be caught and monitored," he said.(italics mine) Rates of congestive heart failure, heart attack and stroke remained fairly stable at about three out of 10 people diagnosed with diabetes in 1994, 1999, and 2003. Roughly one-third of diabetics diagnosed in 1994 and 1999 died within six years, compared to one-fourth of non-diabetics. For those surviving with the disease, the accumulation of other ailments places heavy burdens on the health care system, the report said. "The message is how can we encourage people to adhere to recommended care and reduce these complications," Sloan said. "It's not an issue of uninsured people. (The elderly) frequently go to the doctor but we're not making inroads in terms of postponing these complications the way we should be." (Editing by Maggie Fox and Bill Trott) Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo All rights reserved.Copyright/IP Policy |Terms of Service |Help |Feedback NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our» Privacy Policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quote:
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Contradict each other. If the elderly frequently go to the doctor, why aren't their doctors catching and monitoring their cholesterol, blood pressure, high glucose and poor circulation problems? Presumably their doctors know which of their patients are diabetic (if they are bothering to read their charts) and know that diabetes can lead to problems with these conditions. Quote:
And they won't as long as they are advised to follow the [way too high in carbs] ADA diet. :thdown: |
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He is assuming that people are NOT adhering to recommended care. Forget about the possibility that the recommended care is wrong. How can anyone "keep their glucose in line" following current guidelines? Of course, here we all know the implications of that- but the elderly are being led down the garden path by people who are making enormous amounts of money treating the disorders that they themselves caused. It's tragic. |
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Does anyone follow their doctor's recommendations - especially seniors? My doctor knows that I'm going to do what I want. I'm older than he is, as educated, and honestly no one is going to tell me what to do with my own body. I would be willing to bet that most seniors reason that "most of my life is already behind me, a lot of it hasn't been that much fun and as most of the learned advice has been proven over time to be a load of crap, everyone can back off!" Maybe I'm just an extra strength contrarian, but I come from a long line of them who give the experts of the world a big raspberry.
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Naw, my parents were totally cowed by their doctors. They gave god like stature to doctors. But their doctors were incredibly inept and treated them like they were a waste of time treating old people. I wish there were my geriatric specialists out there, I understand they're much, much better for elderly folks.
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The one I know usually stops most if not all the medications when she takes over their care. |
Actually, my Mom's hospice nurse was far more adept than her doctor. She'd been a cardiology nurse and she really turned her around a few times from the brink of death by getting the doctor to adjust her diuretics and other meds.
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I work in dialysis and we see many elderly diabetics. Each unit has a registered dietitian to provide nutrition plans. The advice they give these people is the same old, tired, low fat high carb nonsense. Guess how well this helps control their diabetes.
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