More operations for very elderly


Thelma Vette is 102 and enjoys a nice walk from time to time, MSNBC.com reports.


The centurion-plus-two woman, who also uses a bright red electric wheelchair around her retirement home, is able to go on these occasional physical activity excursions thanks to a total knee replacement surgery she had two years ago, according to the article.


In the past, that type of surgery would not have been an option for someone at such an advanced age as Vette, however advancements in medical technology has extended the life of senior citizens past the 100-year-old mark.


"Geriatricians have known for a while that you can't make treatment decisions based on age alone.


More operations for very elderly I think the medical literature is just catching up with the social observations that 80 is the new 50," Dr Thomas T Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study at the Boston University School of Medicine, told the news provider.


Recently, the American Heart Association said 80-year-old patients were getting open-surgeries "with remarkable survival rates rivaling those of much younger people," the New York Times reports.


Americans aged 85 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the population, according to the U.S. census bureau.


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