Geriatric Health

I am geriatric. I don’t walk with a cane; I dance for exercise. My wisdom teeth are gone, but all the rest are still in my mouth. All my joints are ones I with which I was born – but they are a little stiff in the morning. Several times a day, I get down on the ground and get up again with ease.

But I ain’t the same as I was before I turned sixty. My metabolism changed; my hormones changed. I need less of a lot of things and more of other things. However, the physicians in my health plan didn’t study geriatrics, and they rarely understand the dynamics of an aging body.

Check Prescriptions for Side Effects

Take for example a common prescription for managing blood pressure which has been on my prescription list for years without me ever questioning it. After all, one reason for managing high blood pressure is to protect the kidney function. No one wants to spend time on a dialysis machine.

Creeping Creatinine Levels

Recently my physician has been concerned that my kidneys tests are showing elevated creatinine levels: one of the indicators of incipient kidney disease. I finally got smart and looked up the side effects of my particular prescription. Now I wonder if my doctor is aware that a side effect of her prescribed blood-pressure medication is elevated creatinine. When the “prevention creates the problem” it’s time for a little chat with my doctor.

The moral of his little story is geriatric patients can’t leave it all up to the doctor. They have to share responsibility for their own health. The information is available: look it up and ask!