In our last post, Dr. Bruce Leff talked about Hospital at Home. When someone becomes acutely ill or injured, hospital care is needed to treat the problem. But hospitalization causes its own problems. One of Dr. Leff’s patients described the hospital as a “crappy hotel.” I’ll describe three things that make the hospital feel like a crappy hotel.1. Who’s in charge? 3 different doctors in 2 days???When a patient is hospitalized at night, the nighttime doctor examines the patient and writes the orders. The next morning, the doctor goes home. Another provider assumes care. However, […]
Diabetes is one of the most common conditions managed by doctors. Diabetes results in increased risk for cardiovascular, kidney, eye diseases, infections, and amputations. Is Diabetes well managed in older adults? From a geriatrician’s perspective, management could be much better. The reason why might be unexpected. Many older adults are over treated, not under treated, with serious consequences.
My friend Alyson Kuhn is co-author of the book I Hear You, about talking and listening to people with Alzheimer’s. Alyson and her co-author, gerontologist Jane Mahakian, provide great insights about how to avoid “talking down” to someone living with dementia.
Last week I was busy taking care of some patients. I reviewed the chart on a patient who recently had some falls and bleeding in the brain. She had a “subdural hematoma”. What is a Subdural Hematoma? Subdural hematoma is a medical term for bleeding between the brain and the skull. The bleeding can be a small or large amount and is easily seen on CT scan of the brain. The bleeding is due to bursting of veins on the surface of the brain. This is usually related to an injury to the head although […]
