Let’s not turn elderly people into patients.

From today’s BMJ [BMJ 2009;338:b873] Michael Oliver, professor emeritus of cardiology, University of Edinburgh says primary prevention among young and middle aged adults should be encouraged and supported. But should this apply equally to fit elderly people? Nowadays few elderly people are allowed to enjoy being healthy. A bureaucratic demand for documentation can lead to overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and unnecessary anxiety. Preventive action may be irrelevant and even harmful in elderly people. More than 30 years ago, in his book Medical Nemesis, Ivan Illich called this trend “the medicalisation of health.”