Professional paper
Diabetic Complications in Elderly
Nikolina Bjelajac
; Technical College Bjelovar, Professional study of nursing
Ružica Mrkonjić
orcid.org/0000-0002-4454-7708
; Technical College Bjelovar, Professional study of nursing, Clinical Hospital Dubrava ,Department of Cardiac and Transplantation Surgery
Abstract
Diabetes is the most common endocrine disorder which affects 150 million people.
There has been an increasing trend in the occurrence of diabetes which could be
explained by lifestyle changes, coping with stress, poor diet, an increasing number of
obese people, and sedentary lifestyle.
The disease poses an enormous burden both to the individual and society. The medical
costs are 2 to 3 times higher than for the people which do not suffer from diabetes. The
increased burden is associated not only with the cost of treatment but also with indirect
costs caused by loss of productivity due to disability or premature death.
The incidence of the disease increases with age due to an aging conditional damage to
the genetic apparatus and the weakening of the regulatory mechanisms. Diseased
elderly have a significantly higher number of complications, with a much more severe
clinical picture when compared with younger persons with diabetes.
Treating diabetes in the elderly requires individual treatment, taking into account the
functional status of the elderly. The main therapeutical goal is to maintain blood
glusose levels close to normal values, whic can be achieved by establishing a balance
between the amount of food intake, intensity of physical activity and the amount of
available insulin.
Key words: diabetes mellitus, elderly, complications
Keywords
diabetes mellitus, elderly, complications
Hrčak ID:
299064
URI
Publication date:
7.1.2017.
Visits: 219 *