Diseases of aging that emerge from the metabolic syndrome.

With advancing age, interpatient variability increases. Physiologic and pathologic apoptosis progress at widely different rates in each organ system in each person. The effect of any disease on an individual depends on the genetic makeup, social and environmental insults, and adequacy of and compliance with medical therapy. Time spent interviewing, examining, and preparing elderly patients preoperatively pays dividends intra- and postoperatively, with fewer "rescue requiring events," fewer "failures to rescue," lower observed-to expected morbidity and mortality ratios, better patient care, and greater patient and professional satisfaction. Elderly patients will require anesthetic services in greater numbers in the years to come. The baby boomers are coming. Are you ready for them?