Geriatrics
Geriatrics is a discipline for diagnosis and treatment of diseases based on multidimensional evaluations to prevent diseases and maintain lives of elderly patients primarily 65 years old and older without isolating them from the society by protecting their health.
Geriatrics is a minor department of Internal Medicine. After specialization in Internal Medicine, a doctor become a Geriatric specialist after training for 3 years in the field of elderly health.
Elderly population is continuously increasing in the world including our country, TURKIYE. Many changes occur in organ systems by aging. Therefore, elderly people have their own characteristics and needs. The signs and symptoms of a disease in elderly people may differ from the young and those people can visit our polyclinic with unusual (atypical) symptoms. As a result of aging, chronic diseases increase. Their medication needs to be regulated particularly for the patients who have more than one disease such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular diseases, goiter, kidney diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, blood diseases, osteoporosis, depression and dementia.
Patients with nutritional disorders, weight loss, and complaints such as memory loss, insomnia, imbalance, falling, urinary incontinence can visit Geriatrics for examination. It is our founding purpose to solve problems of elderly people by allocating sufficient time to take care of them in a single center as The Department of Geriatrics. Another aim of Geriatrics is to protect present health status of elderly people. Geriatrics also give advices to patients about healthy aging. Annually performed general control tests, cancer screening and early diagnosis or preventive vaccination applications are also carried out in our department. In Geriatrics, a physical examination is performed after getting information about patient's medical history and medication history such as drugs used by that patient.
In addition to examinations by Internal Medicine Department, comprehensive geriatric evaluation tests are performed in our department. In terms of independence status, memory impairment (memory loss, Alzheimer's disease), depression, and malnutrition; an evaluation is made with questionnaire forms and screening tests specially made for elderly people. Mind, body and mental health are connected affecting each other. In The Department of Geriatrics, health of elderly people is handled by a holistic approach and an extended period of time is spared for them to evaluate their medical status.
The purpose of Geriatrics is to help elderly to live independently and healthier by improving their quality of life.