Since the publication of the third edition of Geriatric Medicine,extraordinary advances have occurred in the science of aging and the potential for biomedical research to give us answers to many, if not most, of the age-related disorders that threaten the quality of life in older years. At the most basic level, the successful mapping of the human genome was declared complete in the fall of 2000. Understanding the map of the human genome is as important as understanding the map of genomes of important laboratory species, ranging from the microscopic worms and fruit?ies used in most classic genetic studies to rodents such as laboratory mice, and eventually to primates, on which much of the research on the aging human brain is done. The genetic maps of all of these species,including our own,does not answer clinical questions,but it does open the door to dramatic, rapid, and ef?cient answers to questions about the genetic polymorphisms related to diseases in humans. The telomerase story also unfolded since the third edition.
Telomerase is an enzyme responsible for maintaining the telomeres-the redundant DNA portions at the end of chromosomes-whose shortening seems to be linked directly to cell senescence,ap- tosis,and the control over cell death,which,at the level of the individual cell,seems to be linked to the decline of organ function and eventually aging and death within the org- ism.
Indice testuale
From the contents: 86 Chapters Total; PART I: BASICS OF GERONTOLOGY; Evidence-Based Medicine and Geriatrics; Molecular & Biologic Factors in Aging; Physiology of Aging; The Demography in Aging; Epidemiology & Aging; Psychosocial Influences on Health in Later Life; Principles of Pharmacology: Clinical Strategies of Prescribing for Older Adults.-PART II: CHANGING CONTEXTS OF CARE IN GERIATRIC MEDICINE; Contexts of Care; The Long and The Short of Long-Term Care; The Geriatrician in the Nursing Home; Home Care; Acute Hospital Care.-PART III: CLINICAL APPROACHES TO THE GERIATRIC PATIENT; Clinical Approach to the Older Patient: An Overview; Chronic Disease Management; Prevention; Instruments to Assess Funcational Status; Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment & Systems Approaches to Geriatric Care; Neurophysiological Testing; Preoperative Assessment & Perioperative Care; Anesthesia for the Geriatric Patient; Surgical Approaches to the Geriatric Patient; Rehabilitation.-PART IV: PALLIATIVE CARE; Old Age and Care Near the End of Life; Sources of Suffering in the Elderly; Acute & Chronic Pain; Palliative Care in Early, Moderate, and Advanced.
