Interview: Geriatrician Dr Lucy Pollock talks growing old

Chat with Dr Lucy Pollock and you’ll discover old is what you make it.

As a consultant geriatrician at Musgrove Park Hospital, she should know.

Dr Lucy recommends we all look after ourselves by exercising.

“It’s free and is the one thing that allows you to not just live longer, but to live well,” she said.

“It’s not about running marathons, or lycra and trainers, it’s simply doing a little bit more.

“It’s easy to sit down for long periods as we don’t move around as much as we used to because our homes are warmer.

“But anybody can build muscle mass at any age.

“I’ve watched 90 year olds who exercise.

“Anybody can increase their strength at any age, you can improve balance, core strength.

“A lot of people are afraid of getting out of breath.

“You lose muscle mass very quickly if you don’t use it, but the flip side is you can build it up.”

Dr Lucy was born in rural Northern Ireland and went to school in London.

She studied at Cambridge, then St Bart’s, before doing general medical jobs in London’s East End, where she witnessed “a lot of tough lives”.

She added: “I learned my trade in London and came to Somerset when I was about to become a consultant.

“My husband and I were drawn to Somerset as it’s the best place to live in the UK.

“We found a house near Langport that was a wreck.

“When we moved in there was a little digger in the dining room.”

Dr Lucy followed her late father into geriatric medicine on a colleague’s recommendation.

She said: “It’s challenging as all my patients have lots of conditions.

“We have to understand about the person, not just the medicine; understand what their goals are.

“You can’t make assumptions.

“You need to understand how they fit in with their family, their community, their social life.

“Old people have brilliant stories to tell.

“I’ve met some fantastic people, and it’s been a fascinating career.

“I need to know what sort of medical treatment people want, whether they want to live forever or whether they have reached the end of their long life, so why am I giving them all these tests and medicine?

“A lot of people are admitted to hospital multiple times towards the end of their life.

“For most of them, it’s not what they want.

“It’s important that people get the treatment they want and need.”

Dr Lucy’s discovers a bit about her patients through honest conversations.

Anyone living in a care home or with a home visit carer needs to have a plan, which in turn should be shared with others.

“In Somerset we’re lucky as we have an electronic system sharing that information, helping draw up a treatment escalation plan,” added Dr Lucy.

“It’s not about dying, it’s what’s important to patients, it’s about living, what’s important to us.

“I find maybe old people’s biggest worry is what’s going to happen to their dog or they want to stay in their own home.

“These conversations are really precious.

“It’s about keeping people in the right place and building up community service if they want to stay at home, with support and care around them.

“You frame their care about what’s important to that geriatric patient.”

Around one in five people over 65 are admitted to hospital for emergency treatment because of their medication.

Dr Lucy said: “A lot of them are taking medicines that aren’t doing them any good or might be doing harm.

“If you or somebody you know is taking too many medicines, ask your GP or a good pharmacist for a structured medication review to make sure every pill is worth taking.”

She added: “Most of my patients are frail and vulnerable.

“Most have five or six different conditions.

“One in three in their 90s has dementia, so two out of three don’t.”

While we think of people getting older in physical terms, we gain in wisdom and experience.

While young people are good for old people, old people are good for young people too.

“Young people expect to be perfect, old people know life’s not like that,” added Dr Lucy, a patron of Age UK Somerset and honorary supporter of the Women’s Institute.

“Life’s a roller coaster.

"As you get old, you can see the whole picture and step off that roller coaster.”

Dr Lucy has written an acclaimed book to help understand ageing, The Book About Getting Older, which is selling in several countries.

It is “a book about stories explaining some of the problems people can fall into”.

As you age, it could help you become a bit Methuselah, who lived to 969, a bit Solomon, the wise king.