New guidance published on managing diabetes in elderly, frail adults

New guidance has been published on managing diabetes in the elderly, including for the first time how to manage treatment for the particularly frail.

The guidance was produced from a collaboration between experts in diabetes medicine, primary care and geriatric medicine, led by Dr David Strain at the University of Exeter Medical School.

It will advise clinicians on helping elderly people with type 2 diabetes get the most out of treatment options, and for the first time contains guidance on how and when to stop diabetes treatments in particularly frail adults.

Dr Strain said: "Older adults have been systematically excluded from clinical trials and have very different ambitions from their diabetes management. This guidance puts the older person with diabetes firmly back at the centre of target setting, ensuring that appropriate goals are agreed to achieve the best quality of life possible, without continuing treatments that would not provide any benefit and potentially cause harm."

The research was carried out in collaboration with NHS England and was published in Diabetic Medicine, the journal of Diabetes UK last month.

The report authors hope it will ultimately be incorporated into national guidance for GPs, to advise GPs on the management of type 2 diabetes in elderly adults, aiming to reduce complications and improve quality of life.

The guidance will be adopted across Devon immediately. The authors hope local health and care commissioners will adopt and implement these principles in their own areas.

Pav Kalsi, Senior Clinical Advisor at Diabetes UK, said: "People with diabetes rightly deserve to have access to the right care and support at every stage of their life, and that means the care they receive needs to be adapted and tailored to suit each individual's changing needs. For example, those who are elderly, and potentially frail, often have different priorities, such as safety and quality of life.

"We're really pleased that these new guidelines will, for the first time, help healthcare professionals give this tailored support and will help them review and decide whether to stop diabetes treatment for particularly frail adults.

"In the future, we hope these guidelines will have a positive impact on the lives of older people with diabetes."

Source: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_661924_en.html

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
Study links obesity and diabetes to higher recurrence rates in liver cancer