When people suffer from diabetes, people's bodies cannot effectively metabolize carbohydrates from the food they eat to get energy, which leads to the gradual accumulation of sugar in people's blood.
As time goes by, blood sugar levels are usually high, which will increase the risk of dangerous complications such as heart, eyes, kidneys and nerves. Therefore, it is very important to monitor the blood sugar of the elderly regularly, which is helpful to find diseases and take remedial measures in time.
As a common disease, diabetes mostly occurs in the elderly over 60 years old. Patients with diabetes must follow a strict diet and lifestyle to avoid dangerous complications.
So what is the normal range of blood sugar for people over 60 years old? How to effectively treat and prevent diabetes in the elderly? Today I will tell you something about this.
Perhaps, we have all heard of the name glycemic index, but not everyone is familiar with it. First of all, people need sugar, or glucose, if they want to have the energy to operate and work in a day. In particular, brain and nervous system tissues need sugar to help people live and exercise normally. Sugar is an extremely important element, which always exists in human blood, so it is essential for everyone to track people's blood sugar.
So how do we determine whether blood sugar is high or low? Doctors will use the glycemic index, which is usually used to measure the glucose concentration in human blood. The commonly used units of measurement are millimoles/liter and milligrams/deciliter.
In fact, the index will change according to different times of the day, specifically, fasting blood glucose, postprandial blood glucose and bedtime blood glucose will be different.
The above indicators have the ability to reflect a person's health status and are the basis for us to diagnose whether a person has diabetes. Therefore, in order to find and treat diseases at an early stage, everyone should have a regular physical examination to check whether the blood sugar level is stable?
The normal blood sugar range of the elderly is as follows:
1, fasting blood glucose
Fasting blood glucose is a more reliable parameter than readings at other times of the day. People should measure it without eating anything in the morning. The normal blood sugar level should be 3.9-6.1mmol/L. If it exceeds 7.0mmol/L, people should pay attention to it, indicating that the probability of people suffering from diabetes is very high. Patients are advised to fast after 8 pm and go to the hospital to check their blood sugar. If there are any problems, they need to have a glucose tolerance test.
2, postprandial blood sugar
The normal value of postprandial blood sugar in the elderly is similar to that in the young. The normal blood glucose level should be lower than 7.8 mmol/L two hours after meals.
3. Blood sugar before going to bed
The blood sugar level of the elderly before going to bed should not be lower than 6mmol/L, otherwise there will be a risk of hypoglycemia. It is suggested that the blood sugar of the elderly should be controlled at 6.0-8.3 mmol/L before going to bed. If the blood sugar level is higher than the normal range, the elderly are at risk of developing diabetes. Hyperglycemia may also be due to the amount of food eaten at dinner, or it may be due to the decline of pancreatic function and the lack of insulin to stabilize blood sugar, so go to the hospital for examination in time.
The cause of diabetes in the elderly is the change of glucose metabolism, because with the increase of age, insulin secretion is disordered and insulin resistance is aggravated. In addition, because the elderly often take many drugs that affect blood sugar or a sedentary lifestyle, the risk of hyperglycemia will increase.
Of course, in addition, there are many factors that lead to hyperglycemia in the elderly, as follows:
Decreased pancreatic function: The pancreas produces enzymes and hormones that help digest food, especially insulin that is needed to regulate glucose levels. The function of liver and pancreas declines with age. If the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, it will lead to hyperglycemia in the elderly.
Decline of liver function: The liver acts as a repository of glucose in the body, which helps to stabilize blood sugar. The liver stores and releases glucose according to the needs of the body. When the liver function declines, the role of the liver in stabilizing blood sugar also weakens, leading to an increase in blood sugar.
Characteristics of diabetes in the elderly
Many age-related changes will affect the clinical manifestations of diabetic patients, which will bring difficulties to the identification and treatment of diabetes. Many studies show that at least half of elderly diabetics don't even know that they have diabetes, because elderly diabetics are usually more difficult to identify symptoms than young people.
In addition, if the elderly have type 2 diabetes, they often feel tired and listless, but people will ignore this symptom and usually regard it as a part of the normal aging process.
Therefore, elderly diabetic patients may have no symptoms until obvious lesions appear.
Many elderly people also suffer from other potential diseases related to diabetes, which will complicate the management of diabetes. For example, hypertension or dyslipidemia will accelerate the progress of common complications of diabetes, such as kidney problems, eye problems and foot problems, and vascular problems.
Elderly patients may suffer from cognitive impairment, which becomes an obstacle to the treatment of diabetes. Older people are usually in poor health and are more likely to get sick, which may mean that complications related to diabetes are more common and more difficult to manage.
For the elderly, exercise and diet regulation may be more difficult, so everyone should pay attention.
Because of the particularity of age, elderly diabetic patients have to face their own dangers, such as: more cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which is one of the factors threatening the survival of elderly patients;
Diabetes complications of the disabled elderly are also a constant threat;
Retinal complications, fundus hemorrhage and cataract are the causes of blindness in the elderly;
Diabetic peripheral nerve and cerebrovascular complications often cause gangrene. When the condition is serious, it must be amputated, resulting in lifelong disability or death.
Elderly patients with diabetes often suffer from memory loss, depression, Alzheimer's disease and other symptoms.
Therefore, elderly patients with diabetes should be actively treated. The goal of the treatment of elderly diabetes is to relieve the symptoms of hyperglycemia and prevent the risk of acute complications such as infection and coma caused by hyperglycemia. Therefore, everyone can control blood sugar through diet and exercise. Some patients need to take diabetes drugs or insulin injections and drugs to control other diseases (such as hypertension and high cholesterol).
Therefore, in elderly patients, the overall goal of diabetes treatment is similar to that of middle-aged people, and hyperglycemia and risk factors need to be controlled. However, for susceptible elderly diabetic patients, attention should be paid to avoiding hypoglycemia, hypotension and drug interaction caused by repeated medication. In addition, attention should be paid to the treatment of complications.
In addition, hypoglycemia caused by drugs will have adverse consequences, such as the decrease or deterioration of complications, so the goal of blood sugar control of such patients should depend on the general health status and expected survival time.
Elderly people with hypoglycemia tend to have less sympathetic symptoms, such as sweating or tremor, but often have symptoms of decreased glucose in the central nervous system, such as weakness, dizziness and confusion.
So it may be confused with other diseases such as transient ischemic attack.
Hypoglycemia will increase people's cardiovascular events, increase the possibility of dementia, and increase the possibility of falling and causing fractures. Therefore, we should pay attention to the choice of drugs that can minimize the risk of hypoglycemia, and be cautious when taking sulfonylureas, glinides and insulin.
Matters needing attention in handling are as follows:
1. Most drugs can be used to treat senile diabetes in elderly patients, but a thorough medical examination and examination of liver, kidney and heart functions must be carried out before deciding on treatment, and medication should be strictly in accordance with the doctor's advice.
Like young patients, the primary measures for the elderly to treat diabetes are to change diet, exercise regularly and lose weight.
③ At the initial stage of treatment, even if the patient has no symptoms of hypoglycemia, blood sugar should be checked regularly.
First of all, we should monitor the blood sugar level, because very high blood sugar level or very low blood sugar level will pose risks to people's health. The attending doctor will plan when the patient will be tested for glucose and a1c. If people control their blood sugar without taking insulin, they may not need to check their blood sugar often.
Secondly, choose a healthy diet. The food you eat every day will affect people's blood sugar level. Therefore, the elderly with diabetes should pay attention to eating more green vegetables, reducing foods with high starch and animal fat content, eating more foods with high plant fat content, and staying away from processed foods, foods with high sugar, high starch and high trans fat.
If you are obese on a low-calorie diet, you should pay attention to losing weight, but you should still ensure the intake of vitamins, especially B vitamins.
In addition, it is also important for the elderly to stay active and exercise regularly. Elderly patients with diabetes can prevent dangerous complications of the disease through exercise and prolong their lives. It is suggested that everyone should exercise at least 5 days a week and at least 30 minutes a day, which is helpful to improve the blood sugar level of elderly diabetic patients.
In addition to a reasonable diet or lifestyle, elderly diabetic patients also need to use diabetes drugs correctly according to the doctor's instructions. For diabetes drugs, take the right dose. If used in excess, there is a risk of hypoglycemia. If the dose is not enough, the effectiveness of the drug will be reduced.
Measures to prevent complications of diabetes in the elderly
Everyone should check their blood pressure regularly to manage their blood sugar level and their own cholesterol level, and have a blood test at least once a year to check their cholesterol and fat level, because high cholesterol level will increase people's risk of heart disease.
Also pay attention to quitting smoking, smoking will increase the risk of many health problems, including heart attack and stroke; Annual eye examination helps to find and treat eye problems caused by hyperglycemia as soon as possible, and can keep people's eyes healthy. Regular routine renal function examination, because diabetes will affect people's kidneys;
Take care of your teeth and gums, brush your teeth and floss every day, and check your teeth and gums twice a year to avoid serious problems; Protect skin, keep skin clean, pay attention to minor cuts and abrasions, and prevent infection.
In addition, take time to check your feet every day. If you have any ulcers, blisters, broken skin or infections, please see a doctor immediately.
To sum up, diabetes in the elderly is a very common disease, and each of us needs to take the initiative to see a doctor regularly to monitor our blood sugar.
If abnormalities are found, they should be treated in time, because if they are not treated in time, patients will face the risk of serious complications.
In addition, don't forget to establish a reasonable diet and pay attention to proper exercise, because this risk can be greatly improved through proper medication and lifestyle changes.