The Elderly Patient

How well can you tackle medical problems as they affect the elderly? These questions, derived from the regular 'Brainscan' feature of the journal Geriatric Medicine, are designed to help you find out. The medical care of the older patient must cover a much wider range of issues than simply the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Even these basic disciplines are subject to modifications in all their aspects by the encroachment of old age. It is hoped that the questions and their answers will portray some of those wider issues, and at the same time act as a 'refresher'. Try scoring yourself. This may give you some idea of your chances in the examination for the new Diploma of Geriatric Medicine. The questions are roughly grouped in chapters covering general aspects of ageing, the differential diagnosis of various presenting symptoms, and a brief look at the systems. Some social work and rehabilitative aspects are covered. We hope you enjoy them, and that you find something of interest at the same time. You may find Geriatric Medicine's regular 'Brainscan' quiz will help you to keep up to the mark hereafter. Acknowledgement I wish to thank Mr. I.W. Braby, M.P.S., who introduced me to word processing and without whose invaluable support at every stage this book could not have been written.