Today there are so many different subspecialties that you can just get confused in the names. What does a gerontologist do? Who should contact him and in what cases?

What is this science?

So what is gerontology? This is a science that studies the psychological, physical, biological and social aspects of human aging, as well as ways to slow down this inevitable process.

Gerontology consists of several disciplines:

• Geriatrics studies diseases that occur in old age and are caused by changes in the functioning of the body, which are associated with the aging of all tissues. Also, this discipline includes determining the features of treatment and prevention of all other diseases, taking into account age.
• Gerontopsychology is the study of the behavior, habits and psychology of elderly and senile people.
• Hero hygiene deals with the study of the rules of general and specialized hygiene, which must be observed by people belonging to older age groups.
• Social gerontology stands out as a separate discipline and covers such aspects as the influence of old age on personality, behavior, lifestyle and human needs, on the interaction of older people with family, society, friends and team.

What does such a doctor do?

What does a gerontologist treat? He provides assistance to the elderly. It includes the treatment and prevention of both diseases directly related to the aging process and other diseases that can occur at any age. In addition, such a specialist should help people feel comfortable.

If we list the tasks of a gerontologist, we can distinguish the following:

• Treatment and prevention of diseases in the elderly and senile age.
• Selection of suitable drugs and supplements, taking into account age features and changes.
• Slowing down aging or in other words, rejuvenation.
• Improving the quality of life.
• The maximum extension of the period in which a person will be able to take care of himself independently and fully.
• Providing advice on hygiene, both general (that is, everyday) and specialized, necessary for certain diseases or conditions.
• Assistance in social adaptation and interaction with relatives, strangers, the team, and so on, as well as behavior correction in order to ensure the most comfortable psychological state patient.
• Selection of products or procedures that can help slow down aging and feel much better.
• Improving the physical condition of the elderly.

Who should apply?

General information

Gerontology is a branch of medical science that studies the processes of aging of living organisms, and first of all, of a person. The theoretical part of gerontology also examines and investigates the causes of diseases, the mechanism of their development and clinical features these diseases during aging.

Science has its roots in ancient Greece, and translated from Greek, translated as the doctrine of the elderly ("gerontos" - old man, "logia" - teaching, science). Gerontology is a rather large and voluminous branch of medicine, because it combines the following sections: gerohygiene, gerontopsychology and geriatrics.

Gerohygiene - studies the influence living conditions on the elderly and develops measures and complexes to improve these conditions in order to prevent premature aging and extend the period of a person's ability to work. Translated from the same Greek language, "gerohygiene" is read as "bringing health to an elderly person."

Gerontopsychology is a branch of gerontology that studies the characteristics of the psyche and behavior of people in old age. At the same time, gerontopsychology uses general psychological means and methods.

Geriatrics - treats the elderly, because in translation from ancient Greek it means - the treatment of the elderly. This area studies the clinical features of diseases in old age, preventive methods that prevent these diseases and diagnostic methods.

Symptoms

During the age interval of youth and maturity, by the old age, a person, as a rule, acquires from three to seven diseases of a chronic nature. And most often, the diseases of geriatric patients are based on functional, inflammatory and metabolic disorders that are of a chronic persistent nature. In older people, the incidence pattern changes. This happens due to the redistribution of diseases, that is, acute diseases become rarer, or become chronic.

In people of the elderly age group clinical picture diseases, especially acute ones, are distinguished by their atypicality, unresponsiveness and prolonged course. That is, in old age the same diseases proceed in a completely different way than in young and mature ones. Their clinical description does not coincide with the classical one, and the symptoms of diseases in the elderly are smoother and less pronounced. For example, infectious diseases (tuberculosis, pneumonia) occur without the manifestation of obvious and acute symptoms, and extremely quickly add to themselves complications of a different nature.

For geriatric patients, acute pathologies arising in abdominal cavity. Often acute form pancreatitis or duodenal ulcer proceeds without tangible, visible and obvious symptoms.

But, with these disadvantages, in the elderly, the development of benign tumors proceeds quite favorably and slowly. Often the geriatric patient himself is not even aware of the tumor in his body, and only the pathologist gets to detect it.

Among the common diseases of the elderly, diseases of the cardiovascular system are in the first place. by the most frequent illnesses there is: ischemic disease heart, atherosclerosis, arterial hypertension. These diseases can cause stroke, heart failure, vascular disease, angina, heart attacks.

In geriatric patients, myocardial infarction can occur with symptoms that characterize bronchial asthma or even simple gastritis.

Diagnostics

Methods for diagnosing gerontological diseases include: examination of the patient, a thorough questioning, as well as laboratory and instrumental studies. When analyzing diseases in patients who are in the elderly age group, some features should always be taken into account. First, very often the root cause of the disease can be atherosclerotic changes in blood vessels. And secondly, diseases of the heart and cardiovascular system in old age can occur due to changes in the patient's musculoskeletal system. It is these changes that lead to various kinds of circulatory disorders.

Also, for the diagnosis of diseases in elderly patients, sometimes it is necessary to connect relatives to the process. This is required due to hearing loss in the patient himself, emotional lability, and depends on the severity of the patient's condition and his neuropsychiatric disorder.

Mandatory in the diagnosis of gerontology is the conduct of laboratory tests: blood, urine, feces, sputum and others. Instrumental Methods diagnostics are also popular with doctors - specialists in gerontology. ECG, X-ray, ultrasound, tomography and others - all this helps to establish a more accurate diagnosis and prescribe more effective treatment for a gerontology patient.

Prevention

In gerontology, two types of prevention are distinguished: primary and secondary. Primary prevention is healthy lifestyle life in old age. Complete abstinence from alcohol, nicotine and drugs, proper nutrition, moderate mental and physical exercise, a mandatory full night's sleep, emotional and psychological calmness.

Secondary prevention is the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle with an already acquired disease. chronic illness. This includes such methods: regular visits to a specialist doctor, strict implementation of all his appointments and recommendations, adherence to a certain dietary diet (depending on the form and nature of the disease).

Treatment

For effective and successful treatment of geriatric patients, the most basic method is a conservative method of treatment. But, with any method, one should always take into account the characteristics of the patient's age, which affect the excretion and distribution of drugs in the body.

In old age, in almost all people, the efficiency of the kidneys is significantly reduced. Throughout the body, the ability to eliminate (that is, excrete) drugs and their biotransformation decreases. The gastrointestinal tract is often subject to atrophic changes.

Given all these features, drugs should be prescribed in smaller dosages.

Treatment of the cardiovascular system of an elderly person should take place under the strict supervision of a specialist, and harmoniously combine cardiac glycosides and diuretic drugs. It is impossible to allow the excretion of a large amount of potassium from the body, which in old age is already small.

Treatment in gerontology involves an individual approach to each patient and the selection of individual complexes. And if the patient requires a surgical operation, then the preparation of his body should be carried out in a complex with psychological preparation.

Old age, say gerontologists, is not only a respectable age, but also general state organism. And they are not always directly dependent on each other. We begin to grow old as soon as we are born, but we spend the physical resources of the body in different ways.

Some, taking care of health, maintain all the functions of the body in working order, while others ruin the body, overloading it with alcohol, tobacco, junk food, bringing closer not biological, but actual old age, which is the wear and tear of the body.

Yes, health, as well as the propensity for a long life, depends on many factors. A number of them are laid in the womb. A woman who smokes and drinks is unlikely to have a healthy child. You can read about the dangers of nicotine. If you still decide to quit smoking, it will help you.

The trashy ecology of many cities is also a constant factor of poisoning. However, man himself is capable of poisoning and destroying himself much more than the smoking chimneys of factories, and today you can meet centenarians more often in the city than in the village.

A movement has emerged that promotes life in the countryside, in nature, on fresh air. They sell city apartments without regret and leave for the outback. make settlements and find ways to educate children. I wrote about this.

Age, say gerontologists, kills less often than a thoughtless attitude towards oneself, and they prove this by the fact that the health of their 60-80-year-old patients is stronger than 40-50-year-olds. Mortality, scientists note, is growing in the category up to 60 years, and then (in percentage terms) decreases. Statistics confirm this: men in our country often do not live up to 60. But women live 15 years longer.

So, bad heredity, environmental pollution, bad lifestyle - that's what works to shorten our century. What can prolong it?

What prolongs life

1. First, the absence of bad habits. Experts noticed that the previous generation, which experienced war, famine, exile and the monstrous Stalinist camps, is healthier than the generation of their children, and they explain this simply: then they drank less, and smoking women were by no means met at every turn.
2. Secondly, a developed intellect helps longevity. Those who are used to working with their heads live longer than those who literally “plowed for wear and tear”, because the work of the brain invigorates the whole body, and the rejection of the great physical effort habitual for the body becomes destructive for it.

But it is not enough to hold on to fair years. What is the use of a long life if it passes in a bed, in a wheelchair, or within four walls? How not to collect a "bouquet of diseases" that can ruin the life of both the sick person and his family?

Now, universal medical examination has begun to revive everywhere in our country, be sure to go through it in order to prevent age-related changes from turning into advanced forms of disease. As is often the case with osteoporosis, for example, which awaits many women.

It is usually noticed when the bones become too brittle and break easily, because in our country osteoporosis is not classified as a socially significant disease and there are no mandatory examinations for calcium content.

That's why gerontologists advise ladies after 50 themselves to take the initiative and find out if they have such a predisposition. If there is, take action: change your diet by increasing the proportion fermented milk products, fish, eggs, and also take preparations containing vitamin D, calcium, and those that will help it be deposited in the bones.

Proper nutrition for health

Properly organized nutrition will help to preserve the liveliness of the mind and body for a long time. With age, it should become less high-calorie, because it is already difficult for the body to absorb the previous volumes - the stomach, intestinal tract and endocrine glands now work differently.

I wrote about proper, healthy nutrition and you will learn how proper nutrition positively affects life expectancy.

Meat is better to prefer fish, dairy products, plant foods - if the stomach is unhealthy, it is advisable to cook, bake, stew. Instead of canned juices, drink fresh ones, and do not cheer yourself up with coffee in the evening: this will prevent the pituitary gland from producing the hormone melatonin (it is produced only at night and is essential for the good functioning of the hormonal system).

The diet of older people must certainly contain antioxidants: they bind free oxygen radicals in the body and inhibit the growth of tumors. These include, for example, vitamins A, E and C. An excellent source of antioxidants is chokeberry (chokeberry) juice. These bushes are in almost every country house. Half a glass of chokeberry juice a day is what can prevent many diseases.

For health and longevity

Physical activity: the more diverse it is, the more useful it is for future centenarians. Housework and gardening, physical exercise and swimming (for example, in the pool - once a week) will help the body maintain maximum mobility.

Simple needle massagers can become part of the exercise - watch TV shows and massage your hands and feet, improve blood circulation. But TV will not replace intellectual work.

Now train your powers of observation and try to solve puzzles. If you don’t write at all in the comments, I’ll put it easier.

Reading, memorizing poetry, solving crossword puzzles, writing letters - that's what will help keep the mind, and therefore the whole body in good shape.

gerontology G. is the science of aging. It is different from geriatrics, the science of treating and preventing disease in the elderly. G. partially overlaps geriatrics and covers a much wider area. As a science, G. studies the processes of aging and the condition of the elderly. Thus, a part of gerontologists is engaged in fundamental issled. and development of theories of aging. Others, an incomparably large part of them, working in the field of applied G., are engaged in providing the required assistance to the elderly either directly or indirectly, through the conduct of assessment surveys, the development and implementation of social. policy, the organization of programs of improvement and social. provision and management of such programs. The field of G.'s research is inevitably interdisciplinary. All disciplines of social and behavioral sciences, as well as many others. the field of biology. sciences are related to aging and old people. Aging is related to biology. changes. Some of the changes that occur with age are clearly caused by the action of a biologist. factor that is indisputably confirmed by nek-ry diseases. Dr. age-related changes may be due to either a biologist. process, or changes in the living conditions of a particular person, to-rye, in turn, accelerate the progress of biologists. changes. Situational changes may vary from intl. economic and political events to purely personal events such as retirement, the death of a spouse, and emotional breakdown. As for the biologist. sciences, of primary interest to G. are their areas such as cell biology, endocrinology and pharmacology, genetics and longevity, immunology, molecular biology and biochemistry, morphology, neurobiology, nutrition and physiology. G. is associated with almost all specialties clinical medicine. Of particular interest to G. are such areas as cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynecology, hematology, rheumatology, nephrology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, otolaryngology, pharmacology, psychopharmacology, and urology. An example of area G., in a cut psychologists-practitioners can actively work and in a cut psychol., sociological and/or sots can be carried out. research., is removal from business (retirement). Any area or subject of interest in psychology, behavioral and social. sciences, as well as the sciences of life and health, with the exception of those that are purely specific to other age groups, seem suitable for research in G. The most important and most difficult issue in all purely gerontological research. - definition of changes caused by age or aging as such, i.e. changes that are universal and associated exclusively with aging, and not with social. or cultural factors, action to-rykh can differ in different populations. Growing recognition in G. of the importance of cross-cultural and international research. reflects attempts to focus attention on this issue and explore the effectiveness of culturally differing principles and methods for combating aging. See also Behavioral change during maturation and aging, Cross-cultural psychology, Geriatric psychology, Retirement G. Manister

Gerontology (from the Greek geron, genitive gerontos - old man and ... ology), a branch of biomedical science that studies the phenomena of aging of living organisms, including humans. The components of G. are geriatrics - the doctrine of the characteristics of diseases of the senile organism, gerohygiene - the doctrine of the hygiene of people of older age groups, and gerontopsychology.

The development of gerontology is due to significant changes in human life expectancy. Yes, for the population of Europe average duration life in 1890 was 38.7 years, and in 1970 about 70 years. In the USSR, during the period 1917-70, the average life expectancy increased from 32 to 71 years. This increase is due to a decrease in mortality from infectious diseases, a decrease in infant mortality, etc.

From the beginning of the 20th century Several theories of aging have been put forward. According to the theory of I. I. Mechnikov (1908), aging is the result of intoxication of the body with metabolic products of bacteria living in intestinal tract, and products of nitrogen metabolism of the organism itself (uric acid).

Czech biologist V. Ruzicka believed that aging is based on the process of transformation of sols into gels, the process of condensation of protoplasm. Soviet scientists V. V. Alpatov and O. K. Nastyukova believed that the aging of the body is reduced to a decrease in the activity of enzymes.

Modern gerontology studies the mechanisms and causes of aging from the molecular and cellular levels to the whole organism. Particular attention is paid to the role of nervous regulation processes. These works led to the development of research in the field of geriatrics - the study of the development, course, prevention of diseases in people of older age groups. The progressively increasing appeal of these population groups to medical institutions and the emergence in connection with this of new tasks for practical health care led to the allocation of a geriatric section in a number of clinical specialties, which most intensively occurred in therapy, psychiatry, surgery, phthisiology, etc.

The development of gerontology is carried out in three main directions: experimental, clinical and social. In its research, gerontology uses clinical, biological, biochemical, biophysical, physiological, and other methods. Scientific research in the field of social and hygienic aspects of gerontology is aimed at studying the causes of premature aging depending on social conditions, on the way of life of people, on finding the most appropriate organization of work for people of older age groups, their nutrition, physical activity, on the most rational forms of organizing social and medical care.

Sections of gerontology

Fundamental gerontology studies the mechanisms of aging, deals with issues of preventing premature aging and prolonging life.

Social gerontology deals with the interaction between an elderly person and society, the existence of older people in a social environment.

Geriatrics is a private branch of gerontology that studies the problems of providing medical care to the elderly.

Articles about gerontology

• Library Rejuvenation and healthy lifestyle "Evolution of concepts in gerontology"
• Hot spots of modern gerontology Article by V.N. Anisimova
• Bad infinity of gerontology. Technique and philosophy of "eternal life" Article on Rian.ru
• An elderly person, his health in the context of global problems of our time, compiled ... Collection of conference materials
• Elixir of life Abstract collection of articles on the mechanisms of old age and ways to overcome it

Sites dedicated to gerontology

• Eternal Mind Articles on the hypotheses of aging organisms, fundamental gerontology, clinical gerontology, long-liver's guide
• Resource Center for Gerontological Nonprofit Organizations Library, legal issues, news, articles
• Esoteric gerontology New aspects of energy-informational causes of organism aging.
• Longevity and prevention of aging (forum) Discussion of the scientific approach to the fight against aging and to increase the duration and quality of life. Gerontology. healthy eating and lifestyle.
• Section "Recommended to read" List of links to useful articles
• Gerontology Explorer Gerontology Knowledge Base

Useful

• Psychologist for grandmother (gerontology) Article in the newspaper "Help yourself"
• There will be no victory over death Article in the magazine "Expert"
• Is it possible to delay youth?
• Gerontology and geriatrics Useful information about geriatric services in Russia and the world

News of gerontology