My husband Coy was 76 and already diagnosed with dementia when he started seeing a wonderful geriatrician. My father's pcp was a geriatrician when Dad was in his 70s or maybe younger. When mother needed a new pcp in her 80s I got her to a geriatrician.
I think these were all decisions.
Now I'm wondering when I should consider switching to a geriatrician. I will be 69 next week. My chronic illnesses are diabetes and depression. I have had several changes of pcp in the last 12 years -- not by my choice, but by changes in the clinic's staff. I am not dissatisfied with my present pcp but not particularly devoted to her, either.
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For most people I've known, it seems somewhere around 75 is when the body starts going downhill fast. Maybe that is a good target age for a geriatrician.