[Epidemiology of elderly diabetes mellitus in Japan]

In the recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of patients with diabetes among elderly population, and the number is estimated to increase further. Microangiopathy and macroangiopathy have a great impact on the QOL among elderly population. Thus, the prevention of such damages is crucial. Furthermore, diabetes has become more prevalent among elderly dementia patients, and self-management is difficult for them due to dementia although self-management is very important for the treatment of diabetes. With the growing population of elderly, cases where patients with diabetes face difficulty have increased. Therefore, for the future diabetes treatment, it is necessary to focus more on the elderly population, patients in needs of nursing care, and dementia patients.