Can You Be 61 years of age and become diabetic?

Hi, BSA-Places. Thank you for your question, and welcome to EmpowHer.

The answer is yes, people can become diabetic at any age. In fact, a person's risk INCREASES as they grow older. There are many people who are diabetic and don't know it, because they aren't aware that the symptoms they have are symptoms of diabetes. Being overweight contributes to the risk; is your mom overweight as well?

Here is the American Diabetes Association's page about diabetes. It talks about the two different types of diabetes and includes a lot of links to informative sections:

http://www.diabetes.org/about-diabetes.jsp

And here's a page on how a person gets diabetes. It lists aging, obesity and lifestyle as the three main causes of Type II Diabetes, which is the most common kind, especially in older adults:

http://www.abbottdiabetescare.com/adc_dotcom/url/questionAnswerProfile/en_US/40.20:20/question_answer/question_answer/QuestionAnswer_00044.htm

Here are the Mayo Clinic's symptoms of diabetes; it'll tell you (and your mom) what to watch for and when or if to call a doctor:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes-symptoms/da00125

If your mom is active, at a good weight, in good health and just likes sugar, that's one thing. If she's inactive, overweight or in poorer health, you're right to be concerned.

Does this help?