Thursday, June 11, 2015

Diabetes is Substantially Over-treated in Older Adults

A ten-year study by Dr. Kasia Lipska of Yale showed the alarming result that we are over-treating diabetic patients 65 years of age and older.  Oral and injectable hypoglycemic agents cause 25% of emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events in this age group.  Tight control of the blood sugar with drugs can lead to low blood sugar, increased mortality, falls and accidents, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and poor health-related quality of life.  It makes sense to utilize lifestyle improvements and natural remedies that do not run the risk of hypoglycemia instead of multiple drugs, which are both expensive and dangerous.
 
See the Jan. 12, 2015 on-line issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

 

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