Читать книгу Pathy's Principles and Practice of Geriatric Medicine - Группа авторов - Страница 382

Anorexia of ageing is associated with impaired muscle function, decreased bone mass, immune dysfunction, anaemia, reduced cognitive function, poor wound healing, delayed recovery from surgery, and ultimately increased morbidity and mortality. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that protein‐energy malnutrition is a strong independent predictor of mortality in elderly people, regardless of whether they live in the community or a nursing home, are patients in a hospital, or have been discharged from the hospital in the previous one to two years.¹⁶ The increased mortality rate in elderly people with protein‐energy malnutrition is further increased in the presence of other medical diseases, such as renal failure, cardiac failure, and cerebrovascular disease. Figure 13.3 illustrates the factors contributing to anorexia as discussed in this chapter.

Figure 13.3 Anorexia as a multifactorial geriatric syndrome with poor outcomes.

Diagnoses and treatment of undernutrition in older people are covered in Chapter 12, ‘Epidemiology of Nutrition and Ageing’, and Chapter 14, ‘Weight Loss’.