Acknowledgements

This book is a personal account of my journey through the field of gerontology and geriatric medicine. I have worked in the speciality since 1997, as an internist, scientific researcher and lecturer at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), Leiden University (LU), and, from 2008 to 2014, as the director of the Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing (LAVA). During that time, I have grown older myself. The voice of the person in their fifties heard so often in this book is representative, probably far more than I originally had in mind, of my own quest to find a way to cope with the ageing process. That means that my views do not necessarily always reflect those of the institutions with which I am professionally connected.

When I first entered the field of gerontology and geriatrics, I was largely unfamiliar with the subject matter. Although I had seen a great many old people in my capacity as a general internist, I had little inkling of why or how we age. The insights presented in this book are the fruits of seventeen years of working with many other doctors’ and scientists’ ideas and thoughts, and it is with great appreciation that I have depended on their work. Below are some references to sources from which I have so gratefully drawn.

Both scientific endeavour and medical innovation typically work by interpreting and building on the discoveries and ideas of others. This method is described in many wonderful books. One such work is:

Friedman, M. & G.W. Friedland (2000). Medicine’s 10 Greatest Discoveries. Yale: Yale University Press.

Knowledge and insight is one thing. Putting them down on paper is another altogether. In this respect I am much indebted to Silvia Zwaaneveldt, who taught me how to spell, to Jan Vandenbroucke, who taught me how to write, and, finally, to Ine Soepnel, who taught me how to put a book together.