Abstract

The impairment of cognitive abilities, emotional control, learning, and mobility in older adults with diabetes mellitus constitutes a global socio-health problem given the high prevalence of the condition, its impact on the healthcare system and society, and the burden of suffering for those affected and their families. In this review, we highlight the problem, its causes, presentation, and natural history. We propose a prevention and treatment approach, as the older adult stage is characterized by its heterogeneity and the scarcity of resources. This is a call to raise awareness and consider aging as a process that is simply another stage of human life, and that this stage can be "healthy" or accompanied by pathological processes that affect the quality of life of the individual and their environment. It is important to consider the search for new strategies and resources to address this issue. We emphasize that diabetes is the most frequent metabolic problem in older adults, affecting 30% of them. All cells in the body, because they share basic mechanisms for nutrient utilization, are affected. The central nervous system consumes the most nutrients, making it one of the systems most affected. We have the opportunity to apply the body of knowledge developed to understand diabetes and the resources available to us. In this review, we provide an overview of these resources and their relationship to the prevention and treatment of this metabolic and neurological problem.

DOI: doi.org/10.63721/26JACNR0119

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