The Challenge of Geriatric Medicine

Chapters on the chronic disabilities of old age: immobility, instability, incontinence and intellectual impairment, have been supplemented by chapters on stroke, aphasia, depression, and visual and auditory handicap. The aim is to provide practical guidance in non-specialist language.

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The expression "Giants of Geriatrics", coined by Professor Isaacs has passed into medical language to describe the principle chronic disabilities of old age: immobility, instability, incontinence, and intellectual impairment. Chapters on each of these have been supplemented by chapters on five further "Giants": 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 aphorisms. 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.