As Our Parents Age So Do We

Learn more about geriatrics at the American Geriatrics Society.

Read the Associated Press article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer, about the the shortage of geriatricians. In Boomers’ Aging Casts Light on Geriatrics Shortage, reporter Matt Sedensky describes the increasing shortage of  geriatricians –physicians who are trained to treat aging seniors. For those of us who are moving toward retirement, this is a serious problem.

Given my dad’s summer hospitalizations due to medication interaction, I find this the most thought-provoking sentence in the report:

Though not every senior needs a geriatrician, their training often makes them the best equipped to respond when an older patient has multiple medical problems. Geriatricians have expertise in areas that general internists don’t, including the changes in cognitive ability, mood, gait, balance and continence, as well as the effects of drugs on older individuals.