Editorial

Hypoglycemia in elderly people with diabetes

Brian M Frier

Diabetic Hypoglycemia June 2013, Volume 6, Issue 1: page 1-2

In this issue’s Feature Article, we present a review on hypoglycemia in the elderly. The potential impact of hypoglycemia on the older person with diabetes, and particularly the frail elderly, has for too long been dismissed as insignificant or has simply been neglected. In western countries, most people with type 2 diabetes are aged over 50 and are obese with insulin resistance and associated comorbidities; hypoglycemia does not immediately come to mind as a major problem in their management. In primary care, hypoglycemia is still considered to be a problem exclusive to type 1 diabetes, overlooking the fact that many people with type 2 diabetes are treated with insulin secretagogues and around half require insulin in some form within 5 years of diagnosis. Hypoglycemia is common in such patients and the Feature Article in the present issue is a timely reminder of the potentially serious nature of hypoglycemia and its consequences in the elderly population.