Preface

Many people are able to take good health for granted for much of their lives. When they occasionally become ill, the health care system seems well suited to meet their needs. But as people age, everything changes. The need to prevent illness becomes more pressing, illnesses become more common, and the need for health care seems to be a routine part of life. The health care system may seem complex, impersonal, and difficult to manage, as though it were created for someone else. Explanations and useful information are often difficult to find.

The Merck Manual of Health & Aging was written to help people navigate the health care system and find useful information on health and disease. Whether you are in the best of health and hope to stay that way, are ill and hope to get better, or are in persistently poor health and facing the reality of living with disease, The Merck Manual of Health & Aging gives you and those who care about you the information needed. Its goal is to explain when others will not or cannot. The vast experience of The Merck Manuals, which are relied upon worldwide by millions of health care practitioners and members of the general public, has gone into creating this new book. The contributors, consultants, and editorial board members—recognized experts in the field of caring for older people—bring their knowledge, experience, and good judgment to this book. You can rely on the accuracy and honesty of this book.

Because care of older people is complex and involves the expertise of many different health care practitioners, this book covers a wide variety of information. Included is how the body ages, how the health care system does and should care for older people, how to strengthen and improve relationships with health care practitioners, and how to cope with disease. The book provides in-depth information about most of the disorders that affect older people and about differences in how disorders may affect older people.

Knowledge is power, and today knowledge is essential. The more information you have, the better you are able to work with your doctors, nurses, social workers, and other health care practitioners. The Merck Manual of Health & Aging is a supplement to, not a substitute for, professional health care. It provides you with what you need and want to know in a way that other books cannot. Use the information to better understand what is happening to your body, to ensure that you are getting the best care, and to make the best decisions about health care. If you are fortunate enough to never need this information, we hope that it will still fascinate you with the wonder of the human body.