This new edition of the Oxford Textbook of Geriatric Medicine substantially improves on its predecessor. It is the definitive international reference book on an emerging and inescapable medical discipline. There are three new international editors, and many new contributors. Whereas the first edition was designed to complement general textbooks of medicine, this edition stands alone as a reference on all aspects of the medical care of older persons. There is more detailedclinical information on every disease, and this information is given with reference to the changes that take place with ageing, and the resultant appropriate guidance on management and prevention in older patients. There are major sections on common problems in older patients such as incontinence, falls,and delirium. The coverage of ethics, outcomes, legal issues, long-term institutional care, communication, the provision of services, community-orientated support services, and the contribution of non-medical specialists to theory and practice in the care of older people has been strengthened. There are outstanding new sections on autonomic dysfunction, nutrition, back pain, measurement of quality of life, healthy life- expectancy, arterial disease, failure to thrive, sexuality, perioperativecare, special problems such as elder abuse, and driving, and 'useful information', containing various tests and scales. The sections on stroke, memory, cardiovascular disease, the respiratory system, nephrology and the genitourinary system, and neurology and psychiatry, have been substantiallyrevised and updated. The need to balance, for the individual patient, the potential for benefit from modern technology with the risks of ill-effects is central to the practice of medicine in an ageing society. Fortunately, there is a growing literature with evidence for the appropriate management of older persons. The contributors give clear guidance on management, based on a review of the available evidence and emphasizing where these data are limited; and all chapters have been edited byclinicians actively involved in the day-to-day problems of caring for older people. The Oxford Textbook of Geriatric Medicine has an international perspective, with specialist contributors from nine countries. It will provide every physician involved in the care of older patients with acomprehensive resource on all the clinical problems they are likely to encounter, as well as on related psychological, philosophical, and social issues.