Aging & Diabetes: What's the Risk?

Does getting older really increase your risk for getting diabetes? According to many recent studies the answer is, yes it can. The most common type of late onset diabetes is Type-2 diabetes. This type of diabetes equates to 90-95 percent of all diabetes cases today. According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, it is the most likely form of diabetes you are at risk for getting as you age. Type-2 diabetes is preventable in most cases, and it can be treated early with good results if you are willing to modify your lifestyle. By choosing a healthy diet, getting more exercise, and losing weight you can change the way your body creates insulin and can reduce your needs for medication.

Certain ethnic groups also face a higher risk of Type-2 diabetes with onset at a later age. According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, a few known groups are African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic or Latino Americans, Native North Americans, and Pacific Islanders. If your family has a history of diabetes, obesity, or impaired glucose metabolism, you are at a higher risk for the onset of diabetes at an older age.

While it is less likely you will have late onset Type-1 diabetes, it is still possible. Type-1 diabetes develops after the body's immune system attacks and destroys the pancreatic beta cells creating a situation where the pancreas no longer creates insulin. If this happens you will need a pump to perform what the pancreas once did on its own. The estimated amount of adults with late onset Type-1 diabetes is between 5 and 10 percent of all diagnosed cases, according to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.

There are several risk factors for treating and maintaining a patient who is advanced in years and has diabetes. This mostly arises when the patient has limited mobility due to increasing age and limitations, if the patient is a long time smoker, or if the patient already has hypertension. This might make it difficult, but not impossible, to treat the diabetes with the most common treatments of diet changes and exercise.

As you age and your body starts going through changes, there is a higher risk of getting diabetes if you fail to live a healthy lifestyle. The more well balanced your diet and the more exercise you get at a young age the less likely you are to develop late onset diabetes.