1st Edition

Medical Problems in Women over 70 When Normative Treatment Plans do not Apply

Edited By Margaret Rees, Louis Keith Copyright 2007
248 Pages
by CRC Press

256 Pages
by CRC Press

Care of the older patient is characterized by increasing incidence of chronic and acute diseases, with many patients suffering from several conditions simultaneously. The susceptibility to disease increases not only because of physiological factors relating to the aging process, but also due to changes in lifestyle, such as decreased mobility. Issues relating to polypharmacy are exacerbated by... Read more

Section 1: Epidemiology and scope of problem  1. Worldwide population changes  2. New social structures (divorce, widowhood, rural and urban)  3. Mortality and climate change  Section 2: Conditions affecting the elderly  (Pathology, impact on daily living, investigations, contribution to ill health management strategies)  4. Balance, falls and mortality  5. Vision  6. Audition  7. Dementia  8. Depression and mood changes (care at home, in residential care, hospital, drug/ECT/cognitive therapy)  9. Dentition  10. Continence  11. Sex (couple and single-sex relationships, heterosexual and same-sex, at home, living alone, residential care)  12. Sleep disorders  Section 3: Managing the problem  13. Setting up a one-step gerontology service  14. Investigations BP, BMI, Hb, biochemistry,immunology (what are the normative values, what does the physician need to ask?)  15. Diet and micronutrients: living alone and residential care  16. Polypharmacy getting prescriptions, compliance, drug interactions, drug metabolism changes with age  17. Alternative and complementary therapies  18. Designing living places independent and residential  19. Palliative care: location, chemotherapy, analgesia  20. Caring for carers: professional and non-professional  Index & Bibliographies

Biography

Rees, Margaret; Keith, Louis

"This book contains 16 well-written review articles arranged in five sections titled: epidemiology and scope of the problem, conditions affecting elderly women, management problems, common gynaecological problems, and promoting healthy living. […] The main success of this book lies in its ability to initiate discussion and to show some ways of how to handle these issues in geriatric and biogerontological research." Dr. Suresh Rattan, Biogerontology, November 2007

"This dual author book helpfully informs us of the medical problems of this fast expanding age group with early chapters on epidemiology and the extent of the problems. [...] This book is designed to educate gynaecologists about these issues, utilising the involvement of experienced specialists in a variety of clinical and non-clinical specialities. It has useful guidelines for best practice, and serves its intended purpose very well." John McGarry FRCOG, Menopause International