This is an excellent book. It is succinct yet easy to read There are useful little boxes of How To's eg How To Give Sub-Cut Fluids, Use Digoxin, Assess Depression etc. I thought I know how to do many of these tips but I still found then useful and interesting. This is a useful book for anyone spending time looking after old patients. (BMA Medical Book Competition 2007 )

...this is a brilliantly crafted book and a wonderful contribution to the field. (Doody's Notes )

The population is ageing, and most diseases are far more common in older people. Older people are particularly difficult to assess and to treat effectively, but are more vulnerable to therapeutic delays or errors. The Oxford Handbook of Geriatric Medicine provides user-friendly advice in a field that has limited evidence, yet makes up a substantial proportion of the work of most clinicians. It includes information required for effective, geriatric practice, in a contemporary, accessible format, indicating where practice differs from that of younger adults, is ill informed by evidence, and where dangers lurk for the inexperienced clinician. Guidance is given on the many ethical and clinical dilemmas common in geriatric practice, where several solutions may appear equally valid. Information ranges from when not to treat, through to providing evidence for where an aggressive approach is needed. Diseases that tend to arise mainly in older patients are covered in detail, as are problems that arise frequently, yet where advice is scarce. The text is problem based to assist the clinician in tackling scenarios where the diagnosis may not be clear. This is the 'must have' guide to geriatric medicine and will be invaluable to all those involved in the care of the older patient.

The population is ageing, and most diseases are far more common in older people. Older people are particularly difficult to assess and to treat effectively, but are more vulnerable to therapeutic delays or errors. The Oxford Handbook of Geriatric Medicine provides user-friendly advice in a field that has limited evidence, yet makes up a substantial proportion of the work of most clinicians. It includes information required for effective, geriatric practice, in a contemporary, accessible format, indicating where practice differs from that of younger adults, is ill informed by evidence, and where dangers lurk for the inexperienced clinician. Guidance is given on the many ethical and clinical dilemmas common in geriatric practice, where several solutions may appear equally valid. Information ranges from when not to treat, through to providing evidence for where an aggressive approach is needed. Diseases that tend to arise mainly in older patients are covered in detail, as are problems that arise frequently, yet where advice is scarce. The text is problem based to assist the clinician in tackling scenarios where the diagnosis may not be clear.This is the 'must have' guide to geriatric medicine and will be invaluable to all those involved in the care of the older patient.

Dr Lesley Bowker qualified in 1990 from Southampton. Further training was in Wessex (SHO and registrar jobs) and Oxford (senior registrar) followed by a year in Perth (Australia) as a senior lecturer. She was a 'career geriatrician' from early days and developed a research interest in practical clinical ethics especially relating to the elderly. Her DM thesis (awarded from Southampton in 2003) was in the practical and ethical issues surrounding life-sustaining treatment in the
elderly person. Her consultant appointment at Norwich in 2002 allows her to combine clinical work with education as the clinical skills coordinator for the new school of medicine at UEA.