Why are the medical needs of senior citizens different?
Well, there are two things that happen with aging. One of the normal aging processes, so as you get older, your immune system doesn't respond as well as if you're younger. So, for example, if you get pneumonia, and you're 20, the odds are like 99.9% you're going to do fine and there will be no problems. But, when you get to be 80 or 85, you have a risk of dying from that pneumonia. Your immune system is impaired. So, we have to worry about treating you rapidly, efficiently, effectively, right away. So the normal changes in aging affect your ability to deal with a variety of illnesses. Ok? So we have to be concerned about that. For example, as you age, the sun exposure you've had for 40 years adds up. So, we've got to be looking for skin cancers, much more than someone looking at a 25 year old where the odds are very little of finding a skin cancer. So, as a geriatrician we're concerned with the normal changes of aging. Then, there are main diseases that become much more frequent as you age and we're also interested in looking at those, going down the list of what could be affecting you, for example, arthritis. The odds are if you're 65, 75, 85, you have osteoarthritis. How are you doing with it? What can we do to help you out? These are critical issues. Another critical area is looking at health maintenance. Exercise is important when you're young. It's much more important as you get older. You almost exercise by accident when you're young. You go out dancing for the night. You're running after a bus. You're jogging. You're having fun. You get older, it's much more important that you get out there, much less likely that you're exercising by accident. So, again, we have to direct seniors toward exercise programs. For example, for every one senior who starts exercising, another is quitting. Secondly is nutrition. Nutrition is important when you're young, even more important later in life. Watch that intake of polysaturated fats, for example. Make sure people are eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Make sure they're having one or two portions of fish a week. These are critical things. Sleep. Sleep when you're younger is not a problem. Sleep when you're older is a big issue and we have to deal with it.
