Dokita Volume 38 - Geriatrics and Aging

The world’s population is rapidly ageing, and the health and wellbeing of the elderly population is becoming a major public health concern. This is particularly noticeable in many developing countries where the population is ageing faster than it was for the developed countries. Also, this demographic transition is happening against a backdrop of poverty and poor health conditions in such countries and with the poor health infrastructure and lack of policies geared towards the committed care of the older adults’ population in these settings, the elderly tend to suffer significant morbidity and disability burden. In the light of the above and the existing information gap in describing the health and wellbeing of older adults in most developing countries, including Nigeria, this issue of DOKITA, Geriatrics and Ageing, brings to the fore an array of informative reviews discussing several aspects of the health and wellbeing of the older adults’ population.

P. Osuji provides an overview of low back pain in the elderly, with emphasis on the barriers to communication and variability of pain experience and stressing the need for physicians to adopt creative communication styles when evaluating elderly patients with low back pain. F. Elugbadebo and A. Ojagbemi employed a case-based approach in discussing the unusual and variable clinical presentations of vascular dementia in comparison to other dementias while E.B. Olusoji and C.L. Nwosu present a review of depression in the elderly with notes on the epidemiology, aetiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and management.

The pathophysiology of the ageing heart and the epidemiology of heart failure are discussed by A. Oladimeji and O.S. Ogah in Heart Failure (HF) and the Elderly, with an overview of important HF clinical trials that have specifically looked at the elderly population. These authors also discussed specific grey areas in the management of Isolated Systolic Hypertension, a common clinical condition in the elderly age group. G.O. Oyeyinka and O. Adekanmbi in their respective articles Immune system and Ageing, and Ageing and Infectious Diseases discussed the need for the understanding of immunological changes associated with ageing and the implications for the development of therapies aimed at enhancing and rejuvenating immune response in the elderly. Special mention was also made of ageing and infectious diseases in developing countries, with specific notes on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

With these and more, I hope the readers of these articles find them educative and informative in the sphere of care of the elderly persons.

On behalf of the entire editorial team, I wish to appreciate the Board Chairman, Professor Akinyinka Omigbodun; the Faculty Adviser, Dr M.A. Salami; all Editorial Consultants and past Board members for their guidance and support throughout this Board year. I also wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the supervisor of this edition, Professor Oye Gureje, NNOM for his time and support in making this edition of DOKITA a success.

Ibrahim Olukunle Editor-in-Chief (2015/2016)