William Reichel

Multiple problems in the elderly.

Guidelines are offered to help the physician avoid the pitfalls of “wastebasket” diagnosis, find the treatable problems among the many that beset the aged, and set priorities for their management in an orderly way.

Care of the Elderly

The family physician of the future will be confronted with an increased number of elderly patients. With life expectancy rising steadily and with greater usage of birth control and abortion, all medical specialties will be faced with the problems of the elderly patient. In the year 1900, a woman’s life expectancy was 48 years, and now it is 77.1 years. A man’s life expectancy in 1900 was 46 years and now is 69.3 years. In the year 1900, there were 3.1 million Americans over the age of 65. At present, there are 24.5 million Americans over the age of 65. In the year 2000, 31,822,000 individuals, or 12.% of Americans who are projected to be alive at that time, will be 65 or older. The 31,822,000 senior citizens in the year 2000 are now currently alive and are among those who are 45 years of age or older at the time of this writing. One can only hope that the competencies of the family physician of the future will be equal to handling the special problems of the elderly population. One must also hope that society will be able to cope with the enormous problems of the elderly—social security, health care, housing, transportation, and education.