With the aggravation of China's aging population, the prevalence of elderly diabetes is significantly increased. According to the National Bureau of Statistics in 2020, there are about 176 million people aged 65 and above in China, accounting for about 12.6%, while the incidence of elderly diabetes patients is as high as 22.86%. Diabetes is a chronic disease. Chronic hyperglycemia can lead to stroke, heart failure, angina pectoris, chronic renal insufficiency, retinopathy and other chronic complications, so once diabetes is diagnosed, it needs lifelong management, patients should carry out diet, exercise, drugs, monitoring, smoking cessation, alcohol restriction, control blood pressure and lipids. In particular, elderly patients with diabetes should pay more attention to daily protection in the cold winter.

I.       What are the misunderstandings of elderly diabetic patients

A: One is to refuse to use insulin. Some elderly patients with diabetes are advised by doctors to use insulin for treatment, but elderly people find it troublesome or addictive to use insulin. In fact, these are all wrong perceptions. First of all, using insulin will not cause addiction. Thus delay or reduce the occurrence of complications.

The second is not monitoring blood sugar on time. In our clinical work, we found that some elderly patients do not monitor blood sugar on time in daily management due to vision loss or economic reasons, which is not correct. Monitoring blood sugar can help you control your blood sugar, make changes from diet, drugs or exercise, and adjust your treatment plan in time. The most important thing is to timely detect and prevent various acute and chronic complications, such as diabetic ketoacidosis caused by elevated blood sugar. Therefore, elderly people should reasonably arrange the frequency of weekly blood glucose monitoring according to the hypoglycemic drugs they use. For example, patients using insulin should monitor the blood glucose after fasting, three meals and going to bed 1-3 times a week. Patients taking oral hypoglycemic drugs were monitored weekly for fasting and after three meals.

It will also destroy the skin barrier of the foot, and even cause diabetic foot, we recommend that the feet be washed in warm water below 37 degrees Celsius, and the soaking time should not exceed 10 minutes.

Second, how to protect elderly diabetic patients daily

A: One is to control diet. In the daily diet, according to the diet plan formulated by doctors and nurses, reasonable diet and balanced nutrition are ensured every day to ensure the three major nutrients: carbohydrates, which is our daily staple rice and noodles; Protein, we often say meat, egg, milk and beans, as well as fat such as cooking oil, nuts, etc., eat less or do not eat food with high sugar content, if the blood sugar control is good, you can eat about 4 fruits a day, avoid fruit with high sugar content, such as persimmon, longan and so on.

The second is appropriate exercise. Exercise is also an important means of diabetes treatment. Exercise can enhance the sensitivity of the human body to insulin and strengthen the body's uptake and utilization of glucose. Elderly friends according to their own physical conditions and physique, choose their own sports, such as fast walking, walking, square dancing. Tai Chi, etc., exercise 3-5 times a week, and ensure 150 minutes of exercise per week.

Third, elderly patients with diabetes in winter precautions

A: Cold weather in winter leads to peripheral vascular contraction, sympathetic nervous system excitation, blood pressure rise, so the elderly should pay attention to the following points in winter: First, to keep warm. In cold weather, the elderly should wear warm clothes to prevent colds. If the elderly have exercise habits, try not to go out too early in the morning, and it is best to go out after the sun comes out. The second is to control blood sugar. In winter, the temperature drops, outdoor activities decrease, and the secretion of various digestive juices increases, resulting in a better appetite, eating more, and blood sugar is high, so the elderly sugar friends still need to control diet, appropriate activities, and maintain stable blood sugar. The third is to replenish water. Winter climate is dry, should eat more fresh vegetables every day, to ensure adequate daily drinking water, to avoid due to insufficient water in the body caused by increased blood viscosity, thereby inducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

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