title: The clinical assessment of ageing and problems of diagnosis in the elderly.
abstract: The elderly patient presents special problems to the clinician. Accurate diagnosis in the elderly requires an understanding of the interrelationship between mental and physical illness, the altered physiology of the aged and the realisation that multiple pathology is the rule rather than the exception. The onset of illness is frequently insidious and the presentation often atypical.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001831:Body Temperature; D003933:Diagnosis; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011187:Posture; D011191:Potassium Deficiency / Q000175:diagnosis; D013894:Thirst; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000209:etiology