Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2012, 227(3)

Review

New Lessons of Nurturing Life for Geriatric Patients

JAMES P. BUTLER,^1,2 MASAHIKO FUJII³ and HIDETADA SASAKI³

¹Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA
²Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
³Sendai Tomizawa Hospital, Sendai, Japan

Our new lessons of nurturing life to make happiness and well-being of geriatric patients suggest comprise several important steps. First, geriatric patient care should not be delegated to specialists who focus on individual organ system. Instead, we should respond to the patient's condition based on comprehensive assessment to identify the single pathogenesis. Second, we should appreciate that the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) often reflect the behavioral and psychological symptoms of the caregiver (BPSC), and in particular the caregiver's attitude. Third, pleasant stimulations to the limbic system should receive more emphasis than attempting brain training in atrophied portions of the neocortex. Fourth, we should aim not for “successful aging,” but for “balanced aging.” Fifth, we should rely less on drug-based therapy and utilize more non-pharmacologic approaches to appropriate therapy. Geriatric patients should be cared for based on our new lessons of nurturing life rather than the heavily medicalized treatment modalities that are in wide use today.

keywords —— balanced aging; behavioral and psychological symptoms; geriatrics; limbic system; single pathogenesis

© 2012 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2012, 227, 203-210

Correspondence: Hidetada Sasaki, M.D., Ph.D., Sendai Tomizawa Hospital, 11-4 Terashiro, Tomizawa, Taihaku-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 982-0032, Japan.

e-mail: hsasakihide@yahoo.co.jp