Diabetes is a health condition that affects as many as 11% of Americans. Diabetes occurs when the body struggles to regulate blood sugar levels properly. This disease can lead to a variety of negative health outcomes, but can be managed with a combination of insulin medication and lifestyle changes.
Some effects of diabetes on older adults include:
- Vision loss: High blood sugar can damage the blood vessels in the eyes.
- Kidney damage: Over time, diabetes can affect your kidneys.
- Heart disease: People with diabetes are more likely to have heart problems.
- Nerve damage: High blood sugar can damage the nerves in your body.
- Limb loss: In severe cases, diabetes can lead to amputation.
- Mental health issues: People with diabetes may be more likely to experience diabetes distress, anxiety, and depression.
- Cognitive decline: Diabetes puts individuals at a higher risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
While diabetes can be difficult to manage at the best of times, it can become even harder to manage as you age. Fortunately, managing diabetes is possible for older adults. Assisted living programs offer services that can help with diabetes management, including medication management, prepared meals, and fitness classes.
The Physical Effects of Diabetes
Diabetes can have negative effects on almost every part of the body, especially with age. Some of the common complications of diabetes in older adults include vision loss, kidney damage, increased risk of heart disease, nerve damage, and limb loss.
High blood sugar can affect the blood vessels around the eyes. If blood sugar levels aren’t managed properly, eventually blood vessel damage and fluid buildup can lead to vision loss. This condition is called diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy can be managed, but it cannot be reversed, so it’s important to diagnose it early.
High blood sugar damages blood vessels throughout the body. If left unmanaged, damage to blood vessels can cause diabetic nephropathy in the kidneys. This condition can lead to high blood pressure and fluid buildup throughout the body. Eventually, it can lead to kidney failure, which may require extensive and time-consuming dialysis treatments or even a kidney transplant.
Older adults with diabetes are also at a higher risk of experiencing cardiovascular disease. This is due to the damage that high blood sugar can do to your blood vessels and the increased blood pressure and organ damage associated with diabetes. The kinds of cardiovascular diseases common to those with diabetes are heart failure, strokes, and artery diseases.
High blood sugar also leads to a kind of nerve damage called diabetic neuropathy. When left unmanaged, diabetic neuropathy can lead to a complete loss of feeling in the hands, arms, and legs. In the most extreme cases, nerve damage and infections caused by diabetes can lead to limb amputations. Amputations and loss of feeling may leave seniors at higher risk of falling or injuring themselves, and potentially becoming physically disabled.
The Cognitive Effects of Diabetes
The cognitive effects of diabetes can also be harmful. Individuals with diabetes are significantly more likely to develop dementia than those without diabetes.
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, can have extremely negative cognitive effects. In its late stages, it can lead to changes in personality, extensive memory loss, and loss of cognitive function. This can lead to both physical decline and social withdrawal. Inactivity and social withdrawal can, in turn, worsen dementia symptoms.
Unmanaged dementia can have major effects on an individual’s quality of life.
The Social & Emotional Effects of Diabetes
While the physical and cognitive effects of diabetes on the elderly are the easiest to see, the social and emotional effects can be more subtle, though they still have lasting impacts. For instance, those with diabetes are twice as likely to experience depression and anxiety.
In addition to the increased risk of depression and anxiety, diabetes distress is a risk. Diabetes distress refers to the stress and frustration that comes with having to manage diabetes.
Sometimes it can be difficult to convey fears and distress to those who haven’t experienced diabetes. Restrictions like having to make dietary choices that conflict with others, constantly self-monitoring for new symptoms, and concerns about affording medication can all contribute to diabetes distress.
Additionally, the fluctuations in blood sugar that come with diabetes can lead to mood swings. This increased agitation, lethargy, or confusion—among many other feelings—can make socializing difficult for seniors and may risk alienating their social circles, thereby causing social withdrawal.
Social isolation has been shown to have many negative effects on elderly people’s health, and can even worsen risks for cardiovascular diseases and dementia.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid the negative social and emotional effects of diabetes. By taking advantage of medical management and meal programs in assisted living facilities, the burden of managing diabetes can be lifted. Properly managed diabetes will also lead to reduced mood swings and make it easier to stay active and engage with friends and family.
Don’t Let Diabetes Slow You Down
Diabetes can be overwhelming to manage alone, but finding help is possible! By taking advantage of the programs that are offered at Parsons House Preston Hollow, you can get help to manage your diabetes effectively. Our services include diabetes medication management, chef-prepared meals for your nutritional needs, transportation to medical appointments, and a variety of activities to keep you physically and socially active.
You don’t have to let diabetes slow you down. Our professional staff at Parsons House Preston Hollow want to help you stay happy, healthy, and comfortable through your diabetes. To learn more about our lifestyle programs you can contact us today!