|
medpundit |
||
 |
 |
|
Wednesday, February 14, 2007Doctors deny older people treatments they would offer younger patients, according to a study. Researchers writing in the Quality and Safety in Health Care journal said it demonstrated doctors in the NHS were guilty of ageism. The University College London team questioned 90 GPs and consultants about the treatment of 72 patients aged 45 to 92 with angina problems. They found nearly half of the doctors treated the over-65s differently. Some 46% of GPs and elderly care doctors, known as gerontologists, and 48% of cardiologists acted in this way. It would be helpful, before passing judgement, to see those numbers broken down further. (The abstract is no help, and the full paper requires $$.) How did they treat 65-70 year olds compared to 85-92 year olds. There's a world of difference between the two groups as far as life expectancy goes. The very elderly are more likely to be harmed by many treatments with no benefit. The article mentions statin use, for example. Statins are given with the expectation that they will cut the risk of heart attacks over a ten year period. A 92 year old is not likely to get any benefit from a drug like that, but they may very well develop drug-induced hepatitis or muscle inflammation from it. This may not be ageism. It may just be common sense. posted by Sydney on 2/14/2007 07:17:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
|
