The diagnosis used to be quite simple: If you were 65 or older and acquired diabetes, make sure your will was prepared because death was right around the corner. In the past, many times doctors were hesitant to give elderly patients insulin. Now, with nearly 10 million elderly diabetics in the U.S. alone, doctors and scientists are working to improve the life of these diabetics.
It used to be a death sentence for someone 65 or older. Being told you were a diabetic could mean it was only a matter of time.
However, changes in medical
technology, human longevity and profit-starved medical corporations have
created a huge difference in the techniques used to combat diabetes in the
elderly in the past, and techniques they use now and are planning to use in the
future.
Better Attitudes
According to a study by the
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse in 2000, 7 million, or 20.1 percent
of all people 65 and over have diabetes. With a U.S. society still battling
obesity, those numbers don’t appear to be dropping.
Still, attitudes on
elderly diabetics have changed dramatically in recent years, said Carolyn Leontos, MS, RD, CDE
from the Cooperative Extension of the University of Nevada.
“Years ago, the thought of
putting an older adult on insulin wasn’t real common. Well, we now know people are
living longer,” Leontos said. “I think
we’re looking at things differently, we’re not writing people off at 65. These
people are getting a chance to live life to the fullest.”
Drug Companies Seeing the Light
For years, companies have
tripped over themselves to treat popular maladies. If you need to lose weight,
gain hair or have a more consistent erection, the large pharmaceutical
companies have the product for you if you have the money.
Unfortunately, many diseases get
left out in the proverbial cold. For many years diabetes was one of those diseases.
But now with the worldwide explosion of new diabetes’ diagnoses, drug companies
see huge profit potential for themselves. This has resulted in a recent spate
of new drugs aimed at the disease. Proving that drug companies are looking at
the $100 billion in health-care costs diabetics spend annually and deciding to
get their share.
For many elderly diabetics,
these drugs may not have a big effect, but in a future that could see a
disproportionately large elderly population with diabetes, the breakthroughs
could be huge, though some studies are showing they can have health risks.