Geriatrics Frequently Asked Questions
What is a geriatrician?
Ageriatricianis a primary care physician who cares for older adults, especially people 65 and older. Geriatricians have the additional training and experience needed to care for older adults, who often begin to experience more complex health issues as they age.
There are many conditions that geriatricians treat in older adults, including:
- arthritis：inflammation of your joints that causes pain and stiffness
- Alzheimer’s disease：a progressive form of dementia that affects your memory, thinking, and behavior
- balance issues：problems caused by weakened hips, ankles, and inner ear disorders
- cancer：a group of diseases caused by abnormal cells that divide and can spread throughout your body
- dementia：a condition that affects your memory, thinking, behavior, and language
- diabetes：a metabolic disease that can damage your nerves, kidneys, and other organs
- frailty: the gradual decline and weakening of your health, marked by loss of physical strength and increased vulnerability to diseases
- hearing lossandvision loss：common disorders of your ears and eyes marked by loss of function
- heart disease：a wide range of cardiovascular diseases that damage heart functionality
- insomnia：a sleep disorder that makes it hard to fall and stay asleep
- osteoarthritis：a loss of cartilage in your joints that causes pain and stiffness
- osteoporosis：a loss of bone density that causes your bones to grow weaker
- urinary incontinence：a loss of bladder control
There are five areas geriatricians use to categorize an older adult’s care, including:
- matters most: patients dealing withpalliativeor end-of-life care
- medication: patients who have trouble managing and taking multiple medications
- mind: patients with cognitive and behavioral health issues
- mobility: patients who are prone to falling or who have lost mobility
- multi-complexity: patients who manage ongoing injuries and chronic illnesses
Some of the most common procedures geriatricians perform include:
- abscess treatment
- foreign object removal
- joint injections
- 膝盖和臀部护理
- removal of skin tags, moles, and cysts
- skin biopsiesandskin cancer treatment
- wart therapy
The age at which you start seeing a geriatrician depends on many factors, including your lifestyle, chronic conditions, medications, and more.
You may want to visit a geriatrician if you:
- are interested in receiving lifestyle guidance as an older adult
- have experienced increased frailty or impairment
- have started to feel symptoms of diseases associated with aging, such as dementia
- live with chronic conditions that require complex care
- take multiple medications