Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third Millennium
The pattern of patients admitted to internal medicine wards has dramatically changed in the last 20–30 years. Elderly people are now the most rapidly growing proportion of the patient population in the majority of Western countries, and aging seldom comes alone, often being accompanied by chronic di...
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doaj-9d2097a622fe4e69a52bb85faf53a90f2020-11-25T03:29:20ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Comorbidity2235-042X2011-01-01110.15256/joc.2011.1.4Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third MillenniumAlessandro NobiliSilvio GarattiniPier Mannuccio MannucciThe pattern of patients admitted to internal medicine wards has dramatically changed in the last 20–30 years. Elderly people are now the most rapidly growing proportion of the patient population in the majority of Western countries, and aging seldom comes alone, often being accompanied by chronic diseases, comorbidity, disability, frailty, and social isolation. Multiple diseases and multimorbidity inevitably lead to the use of multiple drugs, a condition known as polypharmacy. Over the last 20–30 years, problems related to aging, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy have become a prominent issue in global healthcare. This review discusses how internists might tackle these new challenges of the aging population. They are called to play a primary role in promoting a new, integrated, and comprehensive approach to the care of elderly people, which should incorporate age-related issues into routine clinical practice and decisions. The development of new approaches in the frame of undergraduate and postgraduate training and of clinical research is essential to improve and implement suitable strategies meant to evaluate and manage frail elderly patients with chronic diseases, comorbidity, and polypharmacy.https://doi.org/10.15256/joc.2011.1.4 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Alessandro Nobili Silvio Garattini Pier Mannuccio Mannucci |
spellingShingle |
Alessandro Nobili Silvio Garattini Pier Mannuccio Mannucci Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third Millennium Journal of Comorbidity |
author_facet |
Alessandro Nobili Silvio Garattini Pier Mannuccio Mannucci |
author_sort |
Alessandro Nobili |
title |
Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third Millennium |
title_short |
Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third Millennium |
title_full |
Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third Millennium |
title_fullStr |
Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third Millennium |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multiple Diseases and Polypharmacy in the Elderly: Challenges for the Internist of the Third Millennium |
title_sort |
multiple diseases and polypharmacy in the elderly: challenges for the internist of the third millennium |
publisher |
SAGE Publishing |
series |
Journal of Comorbidity |
issn |
2235-042X |
publishDate |
2011-01-01 |
description |
The pattern of patients admitted to internal medicine wards has dramatically changed in the last 20–30 years. Elderly people are now the most rapidly growing proportion of the patient population in the majority of Western countries, and aging seldom comes alone, often being accompanied by chronic diseases, comorbidity, disability, frailty, and social isolation. Multiple diseases and multimorbidity inevitably lead to the use of multiple drugs, a condition known as polypharmacy. Over the last 20–30 years, problems related to aging, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy have become a prominent issue in global healthcare. This review discusses how internists might tackle these new challenges of the aging population. They are called to play a primary role in promoting a new, integrated, and comprehensive approach to the care of elderly people, which should incorporate age-related issues into routine clinical practice and decisions. The development of new approaches in the frame of undergraduate and postgraduate training and of clinical research is essential to improve and implement suitable strategies meant to evaluate and manage frail elderly patients with chronic diseases, comorbidity, and polypharmacy. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.15256/joc.2011.1.4 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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