Tales from the Front Line: Centenarians

Not all interventions are that bad.

“She just collapsed this morning,” the nurse reports.

“How is she now,” I ask.

“She appears to have recovered."

I check the medical notes and pause at her date of birth - 1918.

As per the 2022 report by the ONS, the number of people aged 100 or over, also known as centenarians, in England and Wales has reached a record high of 15,120.  This number is the largest number on record and more than double the 2002 figure of 6,920. 

The number over 105 is much lower, but it is also rising. Over the last two decades, the number has doubled from 300 to 640. 

I set to work reviewing the history and examining the lady with care as I took in that she was frail and not very mobile. Everything seems fine - that is for now.

A loss of consciousness for a short time is known as syncope. The causes in the elderly are numerous.  Heart rate and blood pressure can drop suddenly due to all sorts of stimuli. Even going to the toilet can give rise to syncope.  A failure to regulate blood pressure that supplies bloo…