Diabetes mellitus: risk management in the elderly and senile patients
Dudinskaya E.N., Tkacheva O.N.

Russian gerontological scientific and clinical center, Moscow

The population of the planet is steadily growing older. According to the UN forecasts, by 2050 the share of people aged 60 and over will grow from 12.3% in 2015 to 21.5%. Aging of the population is associated with an increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2). Such patients require a special diagnostic and treatment approach. Therapy of DM2 in the elderly people is a difficult task due to the concomitant diseases, polypharmacy, features of the functional and psychosocial status of patients and is currently becoming very individual. When choosing a hypoglycemic therapy for elderly patients, it is necessary to be guided not only by the effectiveness of the drug, but also by its safety in relation to the risk of hypoglycemia. This review provides the main information about the pathophysiology of carbohydrate metabolism, the clinical features of diabetes and the use of hypoglycemic drugs in elderly and senile patients. Diagnostic criteria of diabetes in elderly age are given. Particular attention is paid to reviewing the aims of glycemic control, the problem of hypoglycemia, the prevention of hypoglycemic episodes, the reduction of cardiovascular risk.

Key words: diabetes, hypoglycemia, cardiovascular risk, prevention, elderly age.
For citation: Dudinskaya, E.N. Tkacheva O.N. Diabetes mellitus: risk management in the elderly and senile patients // RMJ. 2017. № 25. P.1855 –1859.