Geriatric medicine

Feather-like little old dears knitting jumpers and sipping tea from china saucers … a gust of wind could knock them over. Doris discussing the contents of next door's cat's food bowl, her catheter bag hooked over a nearby flowerpot. Buses, weather, and the delights of shopping bags.

These were my perceptions of the geriatric unit. I believed it to be a glorified nursing home, a place where elderly people could stop off to give their carers respite. Perhaps it was a place where they could get the relief for that sore in-growing toenail, the nagging crepitus in their knees, or maybe sort out the arrangements for the new stair lift.

Although these thoughts sound unreasonable, I further pondered that the aches and pains that came with old age were all simply a “part of life.” With these thoughts in my mind, I was a bit unenthusiastic about spending my first clinical placement in the specialty of geriatrics. My knowledge of the area was limited: I knew nothing of the main problems that affect older people.

The United Kingdom has an ageing population. In 2004 the proportion of people of at least 65 years old was estimated to be 16%, but by 2031 this is expected to rise to 23%.1 The implication for the doctors of tomorrow is a rise in the number of elderly people presenting to them. In turn, doctors should know more about the common-and sometimes atypical-conditions that people present with as they get older. Irrespective of the type of illness, most hospital beds are occupied by elderly people, and they account for more emergency admissions than any other age …