Allied Journal of Medical Research

All submissions of the EM system will be redirected to Online Manuscript Submission System. Authors are requested to submit articles directly to Online Manuscript Submission System of respective journal.
Reach Us +1 (202) 780-3397

Editorial - Allied Journal of Medical Research (2021) Volume 5, Issue 5

Geriatrics: An overview

N. A. Sai Priya*

Department of Biotechnology, GIT, GITAM, Visakhapatnam, India

Corresponding Author:
N. A. Sai Priya
Department of Biotechnology
GIT, GITAM, Visakhapatnam
India
E-mail: saipriyanandavarapu1998@gmail.com

Accepted date: 16 August, 2021

Citation: Priya NAS. Geriatrics: An overview. Allied J Med Res. 2021;5(5):3

Visit for more related articles at Allied Journal of Medical Research

Editorial Note

Geriatrics mainly refers to health care of elderly people. It focuses mainly on preventing and treating various disabilities and diseases in elder people. The age does not determine the need of a geriatric physician; it depends on the individual patient's needs. There are certain physiological differences between the aged and younger adult body. There will be a recession of various organ systems. Lifestyle and various health issues will have a major impact and is different in different people.

There are certain effects normally for an aging people; Geriatricians differentiate these effects from the diseases. Certain conditions like refractive errors, cataracts and hearing loss are usually seen in elderly as a part of aging, but urinary incontinence and kidney malfunctioning are considered as diseases. The objective of a Geriatrician is to treat disease that is prevailing and achieve a healthy aging. Mostly elderly people need to be under observation and need specific attention to their medicines. They are mainly subjected to polypharmacy due to which risk of adverse drug reactions may occur.

The demands and needs of geriatric medicine due to aging population have grown rapidly during the past decades. To provide appropriate palliative care for the well-being of older persons, clinical skills and functioning needs to improve. There is a development in treatment of common geriatric conditions to great extent. Yet we need substantial progress in the process of geriatric medicine to reach the healthcare needs of our aging population. Major revisions are essential in current clinical, educational, and research approaches of the 20th century. For the future of Geriatric Medicine five goals have been identified and have been optimized the health of older people. We need to ensure that every aged person will receive high-quality, patientcentered health care. We need to expand the knowledge base about geriatrics. Healthcare professionals need to be increased who employ the principles of geriatric medicine in caring for older persons. Recruitment of healthcare professionals and other physicians into careers in geriatric medicine need to do. Need to bring all the professionals and lay groups on to one platform to improve the health and health care of seniors. These goals cannot be accomplished individually with Geriatric medicine, various organizations, agencies, foundations, and other partners collaboration is needed to accomplish these goals [1].

The elderly population is rapidly increasing in most of the countries and this became the key issue. This increase in population has created new fields and scope in the medicine. Geriatrics deals with health and social care of aging people whereas Gerontology on other hand is study of aging. Generally in developed countries 65 to 70 years is considered as cut off age as this is the age of retirement in these countries. Cancer mostly occurs in elderly people who are more than 65 years old. Elderly are divided into three groups: 65-74 yearsyoung old, 75-84 older old and above 85 years are considered as oldest old [2].

Geriatric care is prominently missing in our medical educational curriculum and nursing staff members are not conventionally trained to treat elderly patients. In most of the medical schools there is no professional training in geriatrics. For arising of socio-economic support mechanisms for old people in the society, government needs to focus on increasing the capacity of health professionals by training them in specialized courses [3].

References

Get the App