Abstract
In recent years, the prevalence of obesity has been increasing in older people with aging of the population. Obesity is the most important risk factor for several lifestyle-related diseases including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease in the elderly population as well as in the middle-aged population. However, the impact of obesity on incidence of lifestyle-related diseases and all-cause or cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality is weaker in the elderly population than in the younger population. It is also known that the relationship between waist circumference and CVD mortality in men aged ≤65 years is U-shaped. Consideration of the different effects of obesity on lifestyle-related diseases in elderly and non-elderly people may be important for the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases.
The epidemic of diabetes mellitus in the elderly is an important global problem as well as obesity. Elderly patients with type 2 diabetes are more likely than middle-aged patients to have diabetic microangiopathy and macroangiopathy, and poorly controlled diabetes is one of the strong risk factors for CVD or all-cause death in the elderly population as well as in the middle-aged population. However, several studies have shown that there is a J-curve phenomenon in the relationship between HbA1c and CVD events or all-cause mortality in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes. Intensive control of diabetes mellitus causes severe hypoglycemia, and severe hypoglycemia may increase CVD events in the elderly individuals with diabetes mellitus. We have to achieve both maintenance of a good control level of blood glucose to avoid long-term complications and minimization of hypoglycemia and hypoglycemia-associated morbidity and mortality.
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Ohnishi, H., Saitoh, S. (2019). Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus as Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly. In: Washio, M., Kiyohara, C. (eds) Health Issues and Care System for the Elderly. Current Topics in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1762-0_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1762-0_7
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