Older adults with diabetes are at higher risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) than younger adults with diabetes and older adults without diabetes. The rationale to implement ASCVD risk-lowering therapies in older adults with diabetes is compelling. Recommendations for lifestyle modification, lipidlowering therapy, blood pressure management, blood glucose control, and aspirin therapy are often based on studies that show their efficacy in younger populations. However, the risks associated with each of these interventions increase with age, and favorable risk-to-benefit ratios demonstrated in younger adults with diabetes are less certain in older populations. The variability in health status among older adults is pertinent. Those with robust health are more likely to tolerate and derive benefit from many therapies when compared with those who have more complex health including frailty. Age-and/or frailty-stratified data to help clarify these relationships are sparse. In this Perspective, current recommendations for modifying ASCVD risk are described with a review of the pertinent literature that guides their application in older adults. A pragmatic approach to the treatment of ASCVD risk factors in older adults with diabetes is presented.Diabetes is highly prevalent in the aging population, affecting .25% of individuals aged .65 years and 19% of those aged .75 years (1,2). Physiological changes associated with aging increase susceptibility to coronary heart disease and other atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) processes (3). The incidence and prevalence of ASCVD-related macrovascular events essentially doubles in older adults with diabetes (4-6). The overlap of older age, diabetes, and other ASCVD risk factors enhances risk for microvascular and macrovascular complications, functional disability, and geriatric syndromes (including frailty, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, cognitive impairment, depression, urinary incontinence, and falls) (1,7-10). As the population of older adults grows, the implications of diabetes on ASCVD risk escalate, and insights regarding optimal care become increasingly important (2).Therapies directed at ASCVD risk factor reduction are important therapeutic priorities for older adults with diabetes as a way of modifying risk for vascular events and improving health-related quality of life (HRQL) (11,12). Therapeutic targets include control of lipids, blood pressure (BP), and blood glucose in combination with antiplatelet agents. The expectation is that these therapies will increase longevity, reduce ASCVD events and need for hospitalizations, and improve HRQL. However, iatrogenic risks and limited life expectancy confound these objectives