Type II diabetes: tips for managing your older patients.

In older type II diabetics, complications progress more rapidly than in younger diabetics for any given degree of hyperglycemia. Therefore, it is important to closely monitor blood glucose levels. When their sugars are controlled, older diabetics will have less nocturia and polyuria; fewer infections; better wound healing; a decrease in the rate of progression of cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and nerve and renal disease; and better control of dyslipidemia. To learn some useful tips for managing older patients with type II diabetes, GERIATRICS reader David B Jack, MD, interviewed Nancy J.V. Bohannon, MD, for this "Ask the Expert" article.