By the year 2020, one fifth of the U.S. population will be 65-plus. A major challenge of managing the health care of this aging population is geriatric depression. It doesn't simply refer to depression in later life.
Geriatric depression refers to the complicated relationship between depression, illness, and death.
The rate of depression in people with other medical illnesses, such as arthritis, heart disease, chronic lung disease, and stroke is alarmingly higher than the rate of depression in otherwise healthy adults. As a case in point, the rate of depression in people with illnesses such as arthritis or heart disease can range from 25 to 50 percent, whereas the rate in otherwise healthy adults is about 5 percent. The encouraging news comes from a better understanding of depression, its relationship to disease, and promising new treatments. These issues were the topic of discussion at the AAGP's recent press briefing on Geriatric Depression. Here's the point.