Adults as patients

The work "The Elderly as Patients" offered to our medical public is due to the fact that the population of the country shows, at the last census, a considerable increase of people over 65 years old, and the percentage of this "contingent" is already approaching 20. Not too long ago, it was even below 10. In fact, the trend for the whole world is like this, since in 2035 the population of the earth will be 25% made up of people over 65 years old. The elderly and the old show much greater morbidity than the rest of the population, with a prevalence of more than two diseases in the same person (multimorbidity). The pathology has changed at this age - it is difficult to make a diagnosis, which delay, if not fatal, leads to the chronification of the diseases. Examination and possible investigations become more difficult compared to younger people.
In the last place with an already set exact diagnosis appropriate treatment is required. It is here that there are again more objective difficulties, due to the necessary correction of the dosage of the preparations that these patients must use, especially when they themselves have to arrange and control the medications taken. An additional difficulty for doctors is the fact that more than two diseases in the same patient, not only the dose should be taken into account, but also forthe interaction between individual medications.
All these circumstances made it necessary to present this work to our doctors, in whose participation leading specialists in individual subjects were involved problems of adult pathology. The introductory part is gerontology and geriatrics, and finally - information about medications in adults. The work is internist geriatrics, i.e. representation of age pathology from the internist's point of view, which is why questions concerning the surgery, urology and neurology. In the places where the authors have deemed it necessary, the text is illustrated with tables and diagrams, own and foreign studies.
It was difficult to reach consensus among the authors regarding the size and structure of the respective sections. Complete unity in a collective work is not possible, since each author has a personal relationship and understanding on certain issues.
The book is intended for doctors, and it can also serve the specialized and trainee doctors.
I express my gratitude to the collective who undertook to fill this void in our medical literature, and I hope and trust that any opinion and addition will be taken into account in any future reprint of the book.
Prof. Dr. Ilia Popiliev