Diabetes in the Elderly

Dear Colleagues,

Diabetes in the elderly is a critical problem worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, the number of people living with diabetes has quadrupled since 1980 to 422 million adults or 8.5% of the population in 2014. The aging of the population is also an important factor in this diabetes epidemic. Most of these individuals with diabetes live in developing countries. The prevalence of diabetes is growing in all regions of the world. In the United States, the prevalence in adults age >65 is more than 25%. Some of the factors that contribute to this epidemic are obesity and overweight, as well as the lack of physical activity.

The complications of diabetes are many and include heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, neuropathy and lower limb amputations. In older adults, diabetes is linked also to higher mortality, cognitive dysfunction due to Alzheimer’s and multi-infarct dementia, reduced functional status and a higher risk of institutionalization. Older adults with diabetes often have several co-morbid conditions leading to geriatric syndromes which may interfere with their ability for self care, lower quality of life and adverse outcomes. Older adults with diabetes are also at increased risk of falls and fractures, in part due to balance problems due to neuropathy, hearing and vision deficits, muscle atrophy and other co-morbidities. Polypharmacy is another important issue in older adults with diabetes. This may lead to drug interactions and side effects. Depression is also associated to diabetes and may interfere with the ability of self care of elderly patients and with the implementation of desired lifestyle changes. Other problems in this population include meeting appropriate micronutrient needs, as their caloric intake needs are lower in the elderly. Women with diabetes also may suffer from urinary incontinence among other problems. In the US, diabetes is common in long term care facilities. The prevalence is 22% in Caucasian patients and 36% in non-Caucasian residents.

Given the alarming situation of this worldwide diabetes epidemic, we would like to dedicate a full Special Issue of the journal Geriatrics to scientific articles about Diabetes in the Elderly. The deadline for submission is 31 December, 2018. We look forward to receiving your manuscripts.

Prof. Beatriz L. Rodriguez
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geriatrics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.