Treating an Illness Is One Thing. What About a Patient With Many?

The New York Times recently posted an article that relates to many seniors and aging loved ones. I thought this might be of interest to you as well! Visit me at www.heartwarmingcare.com if you have any questions, or need help with an aging loved one in the Tacoma, WA area.

“Yet people with multiple health problems — a condition known as multimorbidity — are largely overlooked both in medical research and in the nation’s clinics and hospitals. The default position is to treat complicated patients as collections of malfunctioning body parts rather than as whole human beings. “Very often, there is nobody looking at the big picture or recognizing that what is best for the disease may not be best for the patient,” said Dr. Mary E. Tinetti, a geriatrician at the Yale School of Medicine.

Here’s the link to the whole article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/health/31sick.html?_r=2&th&emc=th