Let’s face facts.
The United States population is aging. Adults are having children at an older age and we are all generally living longer. These simple truths require physicians to constantly evaluate how aggressively they should recommend a particular treatment, whether for a chronic disease or a sudden condition.
So, when a study comes out that specifically confirms that a treatment offered to an older person yields just as favorable a result as when offered to a younger person, we doctors take notice.
Such a study was recently published which compared office-based vein treatment performed on those less than 65 years old versus the same treatment performed on those over 65.
Over 4000 patients were reported on and 25% were over 65. Aside from the younger patients being heavier, their medical conditions were not that different. It was reassuring that patients in both groups experienced equally significant improvement of their vein issues in all measurements of treatment success. Also, there was no difference in the overall complication rates.
This finding is important since Medicare is constantly evaluating the necessity and efficacy of a variety of surgical treatments. While this is a good practice, decisions should be made based on studies like these and not solely on how much or how little they cost.
Plus, 65 is really not old….its the new 45!
