Study Questions Goals for Older Diabetics

Many older diabetics are following “tight control” of blood sugar, though it may do them more harm than good, a study suggests. The study looked at blood sugar control for 1,288 people with diabetes. All were age 65 or older. Information about them came from 5 U.S. health surveys that occurred between 2001 and 2010. About half were classified as relatively healthy despite having diabetes. About 28% had “complex” health, with 3 or more other health conditions, such as heart or kidney disease. About 21% were in poor health. They were on dialysis, had problems with daily living activities or both. About 62% of the entire group had achieved average blood sugar (hemoglobin A1C) of 7% or less. This has been a goal for most diabetics. Average A1C levels did not change much during the study period. They also were similar even for the sickest group of diabetics.