Geriatric Medicine

A caring role is performed by one in every eight adults in the UK at any one time€“ and on average lasts for four years, with 40% of carers providing care for less than one year and 25% for more than 10 years. The peak age range at which…

Cancer is a common problem, but an individual GP may only see about seven to eight new cases of cancer per annum (although they will see many more patients with symptoms that are associated with cancer but are actually due to a…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic disabling disease of the central nervous system in young adults. The late-onset MS (LOMS) variety, with clinical onset after 50 years old, is not a rare phenomenon. LOMS may present a…

Older people's health needs are recognised to be under-served. Telemedicine, delivered through a telephone or the internet, may be one potential approach to this shortfall. This article looks at some of the evidence of older people's use of…

Evidence shows that pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for people with dementia and their carers all have modest effects and many studies are of poor quality. This article considers interventions to help maintain…

The NICE guidance Chronic heart failure: management of chronic heart failure in adults in primary and secondary care was published last year and replaces the 2003 version. New and updated recommendations are included on diagnosis,…

Schizophrenia in older people is ofen a challenge to clinicians. Most research on treatment excludes people over 60 years of age, which has led to a lack of evidence for this age group. Attempts to differentiate schizophrenia in older and…

An extensive database has firmly established the efficacy of several therapeutic interventions following myocardial infarction including their effectiveness in elderly people. Several guidelines are available to guide clinicians and…

Elderly patients presenting with multiple pains, disturbed sleep, fatigue, poor memory and slow thinking may have fibromyalgia. This is one of a spectrum of €œcentral sensitivity syndromes€ in which there is oversensitivity of certain…

Many people with urinary incontinence will have at least one long-term limiting condition such as peripheral vascular disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, venous insufficiency and chronic lung disease,…

Men gradually reduce their levels of testosterone as they age. Many of the signs and symptoms of testosterone deficiency were previously believed to be part of the normal ageing process, and only recently has treatment of low testosterone…

The majority of older people want to exercise their right to vote, but being in hospital while elections are being held can prevent some older people from voting. Healthcare professionals should make every effort to enable such patients to…

Cough is one of the commonest symptoms presenting to the primary care clinician. Manycoughs are benign and self limiting. However the varied aetiologies of cough and the possibilityof an underlying sinister diagnosis can make cough a…

Dupuytren's disease is a common condition of the hand particularly affecting the older population. The cardinal presentation of Dupuytren's disease, is a permanent digital flexion caused by the shortening, thickening and fibrosis of the…

Age UK is currently campaigning for digital inclusion of older people and with the introduction of Silver Surfers' week, older patients are benefitting from technological change. Online health information is one such technology being…