The Challenge of Geriatric Medicine

This lucid work provides a distillation of the author's lifetime experience with and compassion for the elderly. The expression "Giants of Geriatrics", coined by the author, is used in medical language to describe the principle chronic disabilities of old age. These include immobility, instability, incontinence, and intellectual impairment. Chapters on each of these have been supplemented by chapters on five further chronic disabilities, which are stroke, aphasia, depression, and visual and auditory handicap. Each chapter ends with a short critical bibliography, and the most significant points are encapsulated in original aphorsims. The aim is to provide practical guidance in non-specialist language for management of the "Giants", concentrating on areas of geriatric medicine which are not normally available in standard textbooks.