Geriatricians Know About Aging
The Portland Tribune reports on aging and ask what don’t other doctors know that Geriatricians know?
Dr. Elizabeth Eckstrom is a OHSU geriatrician who has been featured in the New York Times and a top doctor to senior. Eckstrom isn't taking new patients but hopes to spread her knowledge about what her medical specialty knows.
A geriatrician’s knowledge base is far greater to someone who has not taken on learning about aging. Eckstrom says "Most primary care physicians who are doing front end care for older adults have no clue what they don't know."
Eckstron says one example is the “expertise in differentiating the four different types of dementia thPortland at plague the elderly. And that's important knowledge because Lewy body dementia patients are treated with different drugs than Alzheimer patients.”
According to the Tribune “the average Oregonian over 65 takes 19 prescription medications a year, citing a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study. Many seniors are taking anticholinergics for conditions ranging from sleeplessness to incontinence. But not every internist is aware that those drugs can cause mental fogginess and muscle weakness in seniors, which can contribute to falls or make a senior appear to be suffering dementia.”
Dr. Kathleen Drago, an OHSU geriatrician who served her residency under Eckstrom, says “a geriatrician is likely to ask a senior complaining of general confusion if he or she naps a lot”. Daytime napping might be a sign of nighttime sleep problems, she explains. And sleep problems might be the result of patients taking nighttime diuretics, resulting in multiple trips to the bathroom overnight. Changing when a patient takes the drug might help them sleep through the night and avoid some of the mental fogginess that could be misinterpreted as dementia.
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Source: http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/364269-243748-aging-in-Portland-listen-up-millennial-because-your-next