A very elderly friend helped me understand the reality of a work-related predicament I was experiencing. I named her my Number 1 CHA-CHA BABE (After my novel, THE CHA-CHA BABES OF PELICAN WAY). She knew so much more than I. Throughout her life and till this day she has always been an intellectually involved person. She is an excellent example of how to age with acute mind functioning.

The attitude not that long ago, was how little attention was paid to the elderly. A specialty 35 years ago in geriatrics was in its infancy or non-existent in many areas, despite the fact that elderly folks have different health and emotional issues. In fact, the elderly have some very distinct aging illnesses that could easily be helped, but, I believe, stereotyping of the elderly persists in medicine to some extent (less today) and still with the public at large.Why bother? They’ll be dead soon. And if we put in a lot of energy and time helping, how many years will they have of quality living? Well, these days it can be quite a lot. Today there is more and more physical agility and alertness among the elderly, probably because of better diets, exercise, socializing, keeping a quest for knowledge and activities that encourage the brain/body to be on its most focused behavior and acuity.

Some 35 years ago, newly graduated from U of Penn’s Masters program as a Social Gerontologist, I noticed that in many medical school curriculum there were no geriatric courses. I knew the field of medicine, in general, tended to ignore the elderly and very few geriatric physicians existed. Of course, life-expectancy was shorter. But I set about offering my services to help a medical school put that information into their schedule of classes, and it was one of the most gratifying experiences. The compassionate and intelligent Geriatric physician who responded to the chance to do that is now Dean of a medical school and it is indeed an excellent choice on their part to have elected him.

Today, there still exists the problem of over-medicating the elderly due to multi-illnesses. They might see numerous different doctors who all may prescribe medications but there may be little attention paid to the interactions of these drugs that can cause symptoms of senility. Most times multiple medicines are needed but perhaps only the toning down of dosages might be the answer to avoid the appearance of senility.
Sometimes there might be unknown social issues that produce other possible causes for pseudo-dementia that are opposite of too much medication. For instance, an elderly person’s inability to get to a doctor can lead to under-treatment. Loneliness, sleep deprivation, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, depression and the inability to care for oneself may contribute to the appearance of pseudo-dementia. Whatever the reason that causes the mimicking of dementia, if not treated can make senility permanent. For you who are elderly or who have elderly relatives, please be aware of these matters.

Copyright 2025, Frances Metzman
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