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Update in Geriatrics
- William J. Hall, MD
- From the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York.
1999-2000 Series: Update Sessions from ACP-ASIM's 1999 Annual Session
Margaret Ring Gillock, Editor, and David Cramer, MD, Co-Editor
The articles chosen for this review, representing some of the most clinically relevant work in geriatrics reported in 1998, were culled from about 30 peer-reviewed English-language journals. These tend to be the publications found in a general medical library and are not especially oriented toward geriatrics. With one exception, review articles were omitted in favor of specific evidence-based clinical investigations that focus on what clinicians are likely to encounter in a primary care practice. Internists today must deal with an ever-increasing number of older persons while having less time to care for them, making directly applicable clinical information especially important.
Dementia and Alzheimer Disease
Dementia is a most important topic not only for clinicians but for the many families that have to care for a relative with dementia. Simple clinical tests that allow sensitive diagnosis of dementia are available and have more practical utility than screening laboratory tests, such as apolipoprotein E genotyping. New treatment options also are becoming available. Practitioners need to know about all available means of helping a caregiver spouse or other relative deal effectively with the human tragedy of dementia. Collectively, Alzheimer disease and other forms of dementia in our aging population are imposing an immense burden on society.
Simple Two-Part Test Sensitively Detected Dementia in a Diverse Population of Elderly Outpatients
Froehlich TE, Robison JT, Inouye SK. Screening for dementia in the outpatient setting: the time and change test. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998; 46:1506-11.
Current literature continues to show that many cognitively impaired persons are not identified until their disease is fairly far advanced. Although it is hard to compare figures from different sites, the evidence is persuasive that, in general, early dementia is frequently missed in the office setting. Because patients with undiagnosed dementia use vast amounts of health care resources and …
This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.
