Integrated Management in Elderly

Abstract

The majority of elderly patients have a weak body constitution due to the imbalance of qi, blood, yin and yang. The application of Chinese herbs is needed and can be customised according to individual symptoms. It adopts a targeted approach towards the disease and shows a promising result. Chinese herbs can relieve patient’s symptoms, strengthen immunity resulting in less susceptibility to bacterial and viral infection, improve the overall quality of life, etc. Another objective of the integration of the Chinese and western medications is to cut down the polypharmacy of western medications and the dosages, on the condition that the disease is stable. At the same time, Chinese herbs are able to reduce the side effects of western medications. In every disease, western and Chinese medicines have a different role and focus in treatment. However, both can be integrated to complement each other instead of being dichotomous.