Volume 1, Issue 3

Managing Diabetes in Older Adults

In this issue:

The majority of people with type 2 diabetes are managed by their primary care clinicians. The growing population of older adults with T2DM is a high-risk group that needs special attention; their health care providers need to be aware of their significantly increased risk of hypoglycemia, and they need to understand how cognitive dysfunction, renal insufficiency, cardiovascular disease, and other comorbidities can affect treatment options.

In this issue, Dr. Amisha Wallia from Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Dr. Susan Karam from the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans analyze recent publications to provide guidance for primary care clinicians managing type 2 diabetes mellitus in elderly patients.

Learning objectives:

  • Discuss the need for individualized care as well as recommended glycemic targets in older adults.
  • Summarize the efficacy and safety of different classes of antidiabetic medications in older adults.
  • Explain appropriate de-intensification of anti-hyperglycemic medications, particularly insulin, to minimize risk of hypoglycemia.

Authors:

Susan Karam, MD
Susan Karam, MD

Department of Endocrinology 
Ochsner Health System
Jefferson, LA

Amisha Wallia, MD
Amisha Wallia, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Northwestern Medicine
Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, IL

Program Directors:

Joyce King, MD

Assistant Professor
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Director, Inpatient Medicine
Family Medicine Residency Program
Medstar Franklin Square Hospital
Baltimore, MD

Glenn Treisman, MD, PhD

Eugene Meyer III Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine
Director, AIDS Psychiatry Services
Co-Director, Chronic Pain Treatment Program
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Length of activity:

1.0 hour Physicians

Launch date: August 17, 2019
Expiration date: August 16, 2021