An individual goes through several stages of age. In each of them, they require special care and medication. In the usual environment around us, we have comprehended few of them, while neglected other few. For instance, we have fathomed the special need of an individual during its initial years of life and classified as paediatrics domain. However, once they outgrow adolescence, the domain of doctors is classified based on either medical illness.

Thus, this attitude of the society overall, make the geriatrics domain a rather unusual and unheard specialty of medical care. Let’s understand the importance of geriatric medicine.

Geriatrics is a specialty of medical healthcare that involves diagnosis, treatment, and care, particularly for elderly people. It promotes their overall health by treating disabilities and diseases through both corrective and preventive measures. A doctor with specialization in geriatric medicine is known as geriatrician or geriatric physician.

As mentioned above, as soon as an individual is pronounced an adult, they don’t need to consult a paediatrician any longer. In event of any illness, at first a general physician is consulted, upon further diagnosis, they are recommended to doctors having specialization in that particular illness. For eg. Gynaecologist, a gastroenterologist, a dermatologist and so on.

This treatment structure is considered as the standard procedure and rules out any particular need of specialist for elderly patients. This common misconception is prevalent among people, which stop them from seeking geriatric care for elderly patients. However, the need of having a geriatric physician is extremely important particularly for super senior citizens.

Geriatric medicine aims to improve the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of the elder patient. Its focuses to prevent, to improve and/or to eradicate, conditions that degrade the quality of life. Some of its main goals are to-

1. Improve instability
2. Improve immobility
3. Improve memory, recognition, and intellect
4. Improve incontinence

A rather large proportion of super senior citizens often display symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which make them vulnerable, similar to kids, who are not always sure about their exact symptoms or forget to mention them or to recollect. Moreover, due to old age, the healing and regenerative properties diminish significantly. Thereby, their treatment and recovery are different from that of an individual in their mid-30s or 40s. Thus the need geriatric physician is irreplaceable and should be acknowledged adequately.