How to treat diabetes in the elderly?

Written by Zhou Yan
Geriatrics
Updated on March 19, 2025
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For elderly patients with diabetes, our long-term treatment goal is to delay the onset and progression of chronic diabetic complications, maintain good health and self-care ability, improve quality of life, and extend healthy lifespan through good metabolic control. The short-term goal is to control hyperglycemia and its metabolic disorders, eliminate the symptoms of diabetes, and prevent acute severe metabolic disorders. Our "five-pronged" approach to diabetes management is also suitable for elderly patients, including diabetes education, medical nutrition therapy, exercise therapy, blood glucose monitoring, and medication therapy. Therefore, for elderly diabetic patients, it is essential to keep blood glucose levels within a controllable range, delay the onset of complications, and provide a healthy twilight years for elderly diabetics.

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Written by Luo Han Ying
Endocrinology
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Diabetes dietary taboo fruits

Many patients have a misconception after being diagnosed with diabetes; they think that fruits are sweet and they should avoid all fruits. This statement is half right—fruits are indeed sweet, but not all fruits are off-limits. Diabetes patients can still consume fruits, provided that they pay attention to the quantity and type of fruit they eat. First, let’s discuss the fruits that should not be eaten by diabetic patients, which are those high in simple sugars. Consuming these fruits can cause a rapid spike in blood sugar levels. Examples include dates, whether dry or fresh, longans, whether dry or fresh, lychees, whether dry or fresh, and bananas, which all have very high sugar content. These fruits are not recommended for diabetic patients; on the other hand, fruits like kiwis, cherries, kumquats, and grapefruits are generally suggested as suitable for diabetic patients.

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Written by Tang Zhuo
Endocrinology
1min 21sec home-news-image

Symptoms of diabetic foot

Diabetic foot is one of the severe chronic complications of diabetes, generally referred to as the abnormalities in the lower limbs caused by diabetic vascular neuropathy. Diabetic foot with gangrene of the extremity due to concurrent infection is referred to as diabetic foot with gangrene of the extremity, representing a serious stage in the progression of diabetic foot. The main symptoms of diabetic foot include: first, subcutaneous fat atrophy, thinning of the skin, common pigmentation spots on the shin, no hair on the feet and toes, and thickening of the toenails often accompanied by fungal infections; second, atrophy of the extremity muscles, malnutrition, poor muscle tone, and susceptibility to injury in joints and ligaments; third, visible sinking of the finger joints, joint bending, weakening or disappearance of foot deformities, and cool, swollen skin at the extremities; fourth, patients often experience extremity pain, numbness, sensory abnormalities, and dull or absent deep and superficial reflexes. In the initial stages of diabetic foot gangrene, blistering, blood blisters, erosion, and infection can gradually develop into ulcers, gangrene, or necrosis. Clinically, this is manifested as localized redness, swelling, increased skin temperature, pain, functional impairment, and the presence of purulent secretions, sometimes accompanied by a foul odor.

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Written by Li Hui Zhi
Endocrinology
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What does a diabetic diet include?

The diet for diabetes primarily includes the following aspects: First, it is recommended to eat at regular times and in fixed amounts daily. Second, avoid consuming foods with a high glycemic index, such as porridge, glutinous rice, and rice noodle rolls, as these are not recommended. Third, the diet should be bland, as many diabetic patients also suffer from high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and high uric acid. Therefore, a bland diet is emphasized. Fourth, overly sweet fruits such as lychee, longan, banana, and grapes are not suitable for consumption.

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Written by Lin Xiang Dong
Endocrinology
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Diabetic foot ulcer precursor

Diabetic foot, as we discuss in medical terms, refers to patients with a history of diabetes who, due to poor blood sugar control, experience various complications such as the narrowing of arteries in the lower limbs, insufficient blood and oxygen supply, and neuropathy, which results in insensitivity to temperature and pain, making them prone to burns or other injuries. Additionally, diabetic patients have compromised immune systems, making them susceptible to infections. When these three factors combine, it easily leads to diabetic foot, which is also the precursor to what is colloquially known as "rotten foot" in diabetes.

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Written by Tang Zhuo
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Why is it called Type 2 Diabetes?

Diabetes is afflicting people all around the world, particularly type 2 diabetes, which accounts for over 90% of all cases. The pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes is quite complex, involving genetic predispositions and environmental factors, as well as factors like insulin resistance and defects in the function of beta cells in the islets of Langerhans. Therefore, type 2 diabetes arises under the combined effects of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors, where the patient experiences a decrease in insulin sensitivity that worsens over time, leading to compensatory hyperinsulinemia and impaired insulin secretion. As the condition worsens and progresses, the function of the pancreatic beta cells deteriorates further and becomes inadequate, leading to the onset of type 2 diabetes. Thus, defects in the function of the beta cells are crucial to the development of type 2 diabetes.