November 3, 2005

Aging Connection

November is Diabetes Awareness Month

Do you know your blood-sugar level?

By Vivian I. Silva,
Gerontologist/MSW
Special to the Times

With November being Diabetes Awareness Month it is especially important for seniors to get the facts about diabetes. An epidemic is literally sweeping our country with 8.6 million Americans over 60 dealing with the disease (accounting for 18.3 percent of this age group).

Although diabetes occurs in people of all ages and racial and ethnic groups, older adults are more commonly affected.

A chronic disease, diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2000.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among people diagnosed with diabetes—about 65 percent die of heart disease or stroke.

When you have diabetes, the body does not properly use or produce insulin, a hormone needed to change sugar, starches and other food into energy. People with diabetes end up with higher than normal blood-glucose (sugar) levels.

Type 2 diabetes:
Formerly called adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes, this is the most common form of diabetes. Often beginning with insulin resistance—fat, muscle, and liver cells do not use insulin properly. In time, the pancreas loses the ability to secrete enough insulin in response to meals.

Symptoms:
Sometimes people have symptoms, but do not suspect diabetes. They may not feel sick, for example, and the symptoms may be so mild they go unnoticed. One should pay special attention to increased thirst, increased hunger, fatigue, increased urination (especially at night), weight loss, blurred vision, and sores that do not heal.

Testing for diabetes:
If you are 45 years old or older and overweight, testing is strongly recommended. Doctors can administer a fasting blood glucose test or an oral glucose tolerance test. Results will confirm if you have a normal blood glucose level pre-diabetes, or diabetes.

Tips to help your loved one:
- Learn about diabetes by attending a class, checking out the Internet and talking to health care professionals. This way you can better support your loved one’s efforts to stabilize the disease. By understanding your loved one’s illness you will find out what is hard for them specifically to manage and what things are easy to change or manage. Talk about your feelings and tell them how their disease is affecting you.

- Offer practical help. Nagging doesn’t work so offer to take a walk with your loved one, cook a healthy meal, or offer to accompany them to the doctor.

- Try a new approach (when things aren’t going right, try something new and if it works, build from there.)

- Get help (check out resources, try a support group and talk to your health care provider.)
Managing your diabetes:

- Follow your diabetes food plan (eat foods with less salt and fat, and if you don’t have a plan for a healthy diet, ask your health care team for one.)

- Include 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity in your routine several days a week.

- Stop smoking (If necessary seek help to quit).

- Follow medications if recommended by your physician.

- Check your feet every day for cuts, blisters, red spots, and swelling. (And call right away about any sores that won’t heal.)

- Check your blood glucose if your doctor tells you to.

- See your dentist at least twice a year and tell the dentist you have diabetes.

- Know your diabetes numbers and what they should be (blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol numbers)
(This information is from the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

Know your resources:
Locally—Diabetes Society of Santa Clara Valley 408-287-3785

Diabetes Resource Center 408-358-5686

PlaneTree Health Library 408-358-5667

Nationally—American Diabetes Association, 1-800-DIABETES

National Diabetes Education Program, 1-800-438-5383

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 1-800-860-8747

To submit a question for the “Aging Connection” column e-mail Gerontologist/MSW Vivian Silva at vivsilva@aol.com. To make an appointment with the Geriatric Advisory Program at the Almaden Valley Counseling Service call (408) 975-2988.