Mum is 92 and was diagnosed with vascular dementia 12 years ago. It has been a gentle, slow decline although getting noticeably worse over the past two years. Earlier this Spring we thought she had plateaued, as PWVD do, but she has taken quite a sharp turn very recently.
She is 5 feet nothing and just over 7 stones. She also has dry macular degeneration. She had her annual MOT at the surgery a month ago, including blood tests. My brother and I were called in to see the doctor and he said she was remarkably healthy except that she had just teetered over into Type 2 diabetes (threshold is 48 and she tested 51). He said that he didn’t want to give her tablets and we must control it by diet. I explained what she ate, which in the main is very well balanced and not big portions and he said “just keep an eye on it”. When pressed for alterations to her diet he just repeated “just keep an eye on it” which we didn’t find particularly helpful. My brother thinks the doctor has pretty much given up on her as he isn’t very proactive in offering advice on any aspect of her condition.
Anyway, over the past month she has got more tired and her eyes/vision seems to be worse. She says her head doesn’t feel right and her mood is much lower. We don’t know if this is the diabetes (she could have had that for a year - we don’t know or it could be getting worse as her lifestyle and diet remain the same) or just the dementia getting worse or the diabetes causing the dementia to get worse.
Over the past two years she has developed a sweet tooth as is common in dementia but we try to limit the chocolate and cake although she won’t drink tea without a spoonful of sugar - unheard of since rationing began in WW2!
Has anyone else experience of their PWD developing T2 diabetes and if so, what steps did you take to control it? Does what I have outlined sound typical? Thanks in advance for any clarity - I seem to get far more useful information from this forum than anywhere else bar none.
She is 5 feet nothing and just over 7 stones. She also has dry macular degeneration. She had her annual MOT at the surgery a month ago, including blood tests. My brother and I were called in to see the doctor and he said she was remarkably healthy except that she had just teetered over into Type 2 diabetes (threshold is 48 and she tested 51). He said that he didn’t want to give her tablets and we must control it by diet. I explained what she ate, which in the main is very well balanced and not big portions and he said “just keep an eye on it”. When pressed for alterations to her diet he just repeated “just keep an eye on it” which we didn’t find particularly helpful. My brother thinks the doctor has pretty much given up on her as he isn’t very proactive in offering advice on any aspect of her condition.
Anyway, over the past month she has got more tired and her eyes/vision seems to be worse. She says her head doesn’t feel right and her mood is much lower. We don’t know if this is the diabetes (she could have had that for a year - we don’t know or it could be getting worse as her lifestyle and diet remain the same) or just the dementia getting worse or the diabetes causing the dementia to get worse.
Over the past two years she has developed a sweet tooth as is common in dementia but we try to limit the chocolate and cake although she won’t drink tea without a spoonful of sugar - unheard of since rationing began in WW2!
Has anyone else experience of their PWD developing T2 diabetes and if so, what steps did you take to control it? Does what I have outlined sound typical? Thanks in advance for any clarity - I seem to get far more useful information from this forum than anywhere else bar none.