Type Two Diabetes Article

Treatment of Diabetes Complications and Associated Disorders

Diabetes complications in elderly people are treated in the same ways as in younger individuals. Treating the lipid abnormalities (see Chapter 3) and blood pressure is equally benefi cial in the elderly as in younger individuals. In fact, because the risk for heart attack and stroke is higher in the elderly, benefi ts may actually be greater than in the younger population. The blood pressure target is less than 140/80 if tolerated. ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) can be used to lower blood pressure, but these medicines can raise the potassium and serum creatinine levels. High potassium levels can be dangerous and affect the heart rhythm. Therefore, your doctor will ask you to get lab tests one week after you start taking these medicines to make sure that your potassium is in the safe range.

Often, elderly people are on many different medications because they are being treated for other medical problems as well. In these situations, you need to watch out for drug interactions between medications, because they will affect your wellbeing. For example, if you are taking glipizide for your diabetes, taking an antibiotic called ciprofl oxacin can sometimes cause low glucose reactions.

Prednisone, a steroid that is given for bronchitis and rheumatological conditions such as acute gout, polymyalgia rheumatica, and other infl ammatory conditions, can cause glucose levels to go high, and adjustments in your diabetes medications may be necessary.

If you are taking nitrate medicines for heart disease, you cannot use the phosphodiesterase inhibitors (sildenafi l, vardenafi l, or tadalafi l) for erectile dysfunction. So, when you get a new medicine prescription from your doctor, talk to your pharmacist and make sure that the new medicine will not interact with the medications you are already taking.