Older Americans make up a large share of hospital visits, and yet the medical industry — and society — still don’t know how to treat them.
Many medical students don’t pursue geriatrics, the field that specializes in caring for older people. Geriatric patients require more time and attention to detail because they can have more ailments and medications for doctors to analyze. Geriatricians are also not as highly compensated as other medical specializations, even if they need more time in school and training.
MW: How does geriatrics work? When should an older person see a geriatrician as opposed to a typical primary care physician? Aronson: People will assume dementia, but most old people do not have dementia and they’ll miss what is common in older people, which is delirium. It looks like dementia, but it’s the result of someone being acutely ill. You can see the difference in someone from six hours ago, or six days ago, and that assumption can make you miss a really important diagnosis.
Aronson: Some things are already being done, like the National Institutes of Health made a requirement that older people be included in research trials. There was mandated inclusion of women and children 30 years ago, and people of color 20 years ago, and they’re finally including old people. Previously, conditions of old age were surveyed where the patients were not particularly old.
Inform me here - who cares - old people, middle age, and young people get the same ailments - doctors age - they also get old - I see the same doctor as my mother who is 68. We both get referred out to different specialist as needed. I don't see this one as a problem.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »
Source: TeenVogue - 🏆 481. / 51 Read more »
Source: TeenVogue - 🏆 481. / 51 Read more »
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »
Source: MarketWatch - 🏆 3. / 97 Read more »