Diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia, which is a disorder of carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism caused by absolute or relative insufficiency of insulin secretion or insulin utilization.
Diabetes is an important cause of blindness, renal failure, amputation, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, death and other related diseases. When "diabetes" meets "old age", the risk of these complications increases linearly, so elderly diabetes patients must pay attention.
Elderly diabetes refers to patients with diabetes who are 65 years old or older. Most of the elderly patients with diabetes are type 2 diabetes. Most of them have slow onset and no obvious initial symptoms, but when they are found, there are many complications.
Compared with ordinary diabetes patients, elderly diabetes patients have poor perception and tolerance of hypoglycemia, and are prone to asymptomatic or severe hypoglycemia, even many elderly people lose their lives due to diabetes. On the other hand, the liver and kidney function of the elderly is declining, and there are many complications and concomitant diseases of diabetes, which leads to more complicated medication, and the efficacy and safety may not be ideal.
Therefore, when there are elderly patients with diabetes around, more attention should be paid to them for their life safety. So, how should elderly patients with diabetes be nursed?
1、 Diet care
diabetes patients have high blood sugar content in their bodies, so we must pay attention to avoid eating foods with high sugar content in diet, such as white sugar, brown sugar, rock sugar, glucose, maltose, honey and other sweets are not suitable for eating. It is worth noting that because the sugar content of fruit is generally high, it is recommended that elderly patients with diabetes eat less fruit and more fresh vegetables.
At the same time of controlling sugar, the elderly diabetes patients should also pay attention to adjusting the dietary balance and paying attention to regular diet, avoiding overeating, and can eat less and more meals. When eating, do not swallow jujubes whole, but chew them slowly and thoroughly, which makes them easier to digest and absorb.
2、 Supplement minerals and vitamins
Calcium deficiency will aggravate the condition of diabetes, and selenium deficiency will weaken the regulating function of sugar metabolism in the body. Therefore, elderly diabetes patients should pay more attention to supplement calcium, selenium and other minerals, such as eating more shrimp skin, kelp, ribs, mushrooms, sesame and other foods. On the other hand, we should pay attention to increasing the intake of vitamins, such as vitamin B and vitamin C, which can slow down the process of complications of diabetes. In terms of supplementing vitamins, it is advisable to consume some fish, dairy products, cabbage, green peppers, fresh dates, etc. appropriately.
3、 Weight control
Obesity is an important cause of diabetes, so diabetes patients must control their weight. If you are already fat and find that you have diabetes, you should immediately take action to lose weight. However, elderly patients with diabetes must not diet blindly or take diet pills indiscriminately in order to lose weight, resulting in malnutrition. The correct approach is to lose weight through reasonable and healthy methods, such as combining exercise and diet, in order to ensure good physical health.
4、 Quit smoking and drinking
Smoking and excessive drinking will not only lead to a variety of diseases, but also reduce the body's resistance and immunity, giving diabetes an opportunity. For example, people who drink alcohol for a long time usually have their liver affected, which can easily cause an increase in serum triglycerides. In addition, a small number of patients who take sulfonylurea hypoglycemic drugs may also experience symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, and dry cheeks after drinking alcohol. Therefore, for the elderly patients with diabetes, it is very necessary to quit smoking and drinking.
5、 Monitoring blood sugar
It is very important to monitor the blood sugar content of diabetes patients, especially the elderly diabetes patients, so as to ensure that the blood sugar content is controlled within the normal range. For elderly patients with consistently high blood sugar levels, it is recommended to go to the hospital for professional examination and then take appropriate hypoglycemic drugs under the guidance of a doctor to control blood sugar levels.
6、 Strengthening Exercise
In addition to the above mentioned nursing methods, diabetes patients should also take moderate physical exercise to increase their body's resistance and immunity, so as to improve their physical functions.
It should be noted that elderly people have poor physical fitness. When exercising, they should follow the principle of moderation, engage in regular and suitable exercises, and achieve gradual and long-term persistence. The exercise mode should not be too intense, such as walking and fast walking, which is a good choice for elderly patients with diabetes.