1998 Volume 35 Issue 3 Pages 225-228
Senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT) is reported to be less frequent in patients with Diabetes Mellitus. However the, the number of elderly people in still increasing in Japan, an is the incidence of diabetes mellitus, especially in middleaged and elderly people. Thus, we can expect to encounter more elderly people with diabetes and SDAT.
We encountered three patients with diabetes who were treated with insulin and in whom SDAT developed. In all three, control of blood glucose levels gradually worsened, despite increases in the dose of injected insulin. It was later found that they did not inject insulin properly because of SDAT. They lived alone and their dementia was not diagnosed before their admission to the hospital. In its early phase, SDAT can be difficult to diagnose, especially in patients who live alone. SDAT should be considered when the control of blood glucose levels for no apparent reason in elderly patients with diabetes.
