[Geriatric medicine--between the blessing of modern medicine and the curse of aging].

The proportion of the elderly in the general population is increasing. The elderly are frail as a result of biological and physiological changes with aging. Therefore, the elderly consume more medical services. The law of patient's rights promises equality and equity in medical service. The law pays no attention to age, as an inequality factor. Elderly receive most of their acute medical care in the departments of Internal Medicine, General Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery in the general hospitals and their chronic care in the family practitioners' clinics in the community. In recent years, the elderly have chosen to receive their medical services as part of the general population. Therefore, the coming decade placed several goals for Geriatric Medicine in the general hospitals in Israel. In every general hospital, at least one department of Internal Medicine should be headed by a specialist in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine, and one of the seniors in every department also has to be a geriatrician by education. Sub-acute care has to be affiliated to the general hospitals and Geriatric Medicine consultation service has to be established and communication and continuity maintained with community services. Treatment of the elderly in the general hospital as part of the general treatment is our duty as physicians and our obligation to the elderly as part of our society.