When large numbers of otherwise functional, productive adults require pharmaceutical support simply to maintain health and cope with daily demands, healthcare professionals must pay attention not only to the diseases being treated but also to the circumstances that are producing them.
Over three decades of clinical practice, there has been a subtle but profound shift in the patients who walk into consulting rooms.
The middle-aged patient of today is different from the middle-aged patient of two decades ago.
The diagnoses themselves are familiar enough: hypertension, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, heart disease, sleep disorders, stress, anxiety and depression.
What has changed is not the nature of these conditions, but the alarming frequency with which they coexist.