Dr Virajrao Anand Kore, MD Geriatrics, has been practising as a Geriatric Physician at the esteemed AIMS, Kochi Campus after having completed his post graduate training from the same institute. As a junior faculty member of the Department of Geriatrics under the able leadership of HOD Dr Priya Vijayakumar he has trained postgraduate, undergraduate and paraclinical staff in various aspects of the care of elderly. He has been part of clinical rotations, research and quality improvement work. He was appointed Clinical Lead in the AIMS Falls Prevention Initiative and worked closely with Nurses, PMS staff in auditing and preventing Hospital Falls especially in the elderly.
Also, having worked under internationally acclaimed Cardiologist Prof P C Negi at IGMC Shimla in the Department of Cardiology and having completed a Fellowship in Cardiac Rehabilitation from Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad gives him a unique perspective regarding the care of elderly cardiac patients. He was instrumental in initiating a Senior Citizens OP at IGMC alongside the Department of Medicine at IGMC. Also, collaborating with HelpAge India, one the most active NGO working in the welfare of elderly, he was part of many outreach programmes in the rural regions of Himachal Pradesh. He had been invited as a guest speaker on a televised episode of DD Himachal for spreading Geriatric awareness among the masses.
His core area of interest lies in Polypharmacy Management, Falls Assessment, Cognitive Impairments, Frailty among many other Geriatric Syndromes. He is a life member of the Indian Academy of Geriatrics, British Geriatrics Society and IMA.
He has multiple publications to his credit and has presented papers at numerous national and international conferences winning him a podium presentation at BGS, London Annual Conference in February 2020. He has won various accolades in his academic and personal domains.
He is an avid badminton and TT player and represented his college at numerous events. His love for philosophy and literary leadership pushes him into Geriatrics as a career which requires a great amount of patience and empathy that he abides to.
Geriatrics has been evolving. Traditionally we followed the model of care versus cure which got trampled upon due to the advent of modern medicine and care which occasionally leads to sidelining of the patient who is supposed to be the center of it all.
Geriatrics is a homecoming branch of internal medicine with the basis being diagnosing and managing the geriatric syndromes, comprehensive geriatric assessment and other models.
When we talk about the current model being followed in the field of geriatrics, we have found that the “silo approach” causes many medical problems which need to be replaced by the holistic approach. And a holistic approach is what geriatrics medicine functions on.
The first rule of geriatric medicine is function and maintaining functional ability.
In the next couple of decades we are going to witness an unprecedented transformation of the age demographic. Which is why how we take care of our elderly is going to be important in the coming 2-3 decades.
In India, by the year 2050, 1 in 5 individuals will be over the age of 60 years which amounts to approximately over 30 crore individuals.
In the present times, the average age/ life span of the human has increased but by the end of their life they suffer from diseases and disabilities and the aim is to constrict the numbers of years spent diseased and disabled to the minimum and towards the end.
- Stress is the enemy of the enemy of the elderly. Taking a simple walk with your friend/ partner will help solve half your problems.
- Walking also helps in staying physically active
- Sticking to a basic and healthy diet is important.
Some health tips and tricks by Dr Kore:
- Embrace life. And keep learning new things.
- Nutrition and diet plays a very important role in the lifestyle of the elderly. Ensure that you also stay hydrated. It is recommended that you consume 1.7l of water per day, this does depend on whether you have some medical condition which requires you to restrict your fluid intake, as advised by your concerned specialist. Also include fibre in your diet ( 30gm for male and 20gm for females).
- Mind diet is an essential diet and has shown to reduce the chances/ delay dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This diet includes the DASH diet which is given to individuals suffering from hypertension and a Mediterranean diet. This contains foods containing antioxidants, fibre, healthy fat, lean protein, water.
- Adding turmeric to your diet is shown to reduce delayed neurocognitive deficits with ageing.
- The Government of India as part of the department of social justice has introduced a helpline number which you should know and can dial in case you are in a situation where you might need more help and to also gain more information about any subject.
- “Good fellows” is an attendee service that provides you with companionship and also helps you perform some chores such as buying groceries, etc.
- Embrace ageing gracefully. Accept yourself and the process of ageing.
- Falls are a major concern for the elderly. Preventing falls and taking care of yourself and ensuring good bone health is crucial.
- Screening for diseases in a timely and orderly fashion and should be a part of your medical health check up
- Poly pharmacy (taking more than 5 medications at the same time) should be avoided. Optimisation of medications should be done by your clinician.
