Diabetes and the aging population: keeping elders healthy

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December 01, 2004

Recent news from the science community predicts that thousands and thousands of people in old age and even middle-age will definitely get diabetes in 2005. More than half a million people in each of these age groups will learn that they have diabetes.

The good news is, we now have the power to lower the cost of treatment and improve the health and safety for these diabetics at the same time. Science has given us one of the most important tools ever invented - the home blood sugar test machine - to help us keep aging diabetics safe. The big question now is - will we use it?

The reason we should is that aging diabetics are a people in need. Supporting them is important because living with diabetes takes continuous attention. We have to pay attention to our eating, medication, stress, exercise and the effect on our blood sugar numbers. Now, friends, family and caregivers can really help in a practical way by using the new technology of home blood sugar testing.

Why is blood testing needed?

The reason to care about testing is because by paying attention to the amount of sugar in the blood, we may actually save a diabetics' life by preventing extreme events like crippling falls, dangerous disorientation and severe comas.

Most diabetics take medication to help our body's natural system of balancing the amount of sugar in our blood. And the medication science has given us is not perfect yet. So when our bodies are not chemically balanced - when the sugar in our blood is too high or too low - we have extreme events forced upon us. Stories about diabetics passing out, going into comas, and having accidents because of the diabetes are true.

So, when we care for a person with diabetes, we learn about living with these very real fears. And it is important that everyone realize that extreme events happen to diabetics even when doing our best to prevent them. That is why having diabetes is scary for all concerned. But even if you don't have a clue about the complexities of the disease, help the aging diabetics you know by testing their blood sugar for them.

Routine doctor visits should always include a blood sugar test by medical personnel. But accidents due to unstable blood sugars in diabetics don't usually happen at the doctor's office. This is why family, friends and caregivers who do blood testing every day will improve safety for the aging diabetics they love and serve.

Using the technology

Just do it. Testing a person's blood sugar is something you can do because it is very easy and very fast. The blood sugar test is a 1-2-3 step procedure, using a special blood sugar machine (the size of your palm) and completed in about 30 seconds. The test result is a number from 0 to 600.
The most important thing to know about taking a blood sugar test is understanding what the blood sugar number means in terms of safety. All diabetics with very high/very low numbers are in danger of becoming unconscious and need immediate medical help.
The technology is covered: By law, blood sugar machines and the testing strips required are paid at 80% by Medicare.
Help for the doctors: Give the blood sugar machine to the doctors caring for the diabetic person. By reading the test numbers stored in the machine itself, they can more accurately calculate any medicine changes needed.

It costs Americans over 100 billion dollars every year to treat diabetes. Keeping our aging diabetics safe is doing something good for all of us.

Population estimates, costs and more information about diabetes are available from the NDIC, National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse at http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/statistics/index.htm.

Written by Laura Murphy Baillie
December 2004

Reproduced with permission.