Clinical pictures of malnutrition in ill elderly subjects.

Malnutrition in ill elderly subjects is common in hospitals, nursing homes, and home care. Depending on the type and composition of the groups of patients under consideration, the prevalence of malnutrition is cited at up to 60%. With advancing age, the amounts of food consumed daily diminish and become significantly smaller than the amounts consumed by the younger population. The elderly mostly eat food of low nutrient density. Especially at times of high energy requirements such as acute or chronic illness, this results in an energy deficit and general malnutrition. Precise diagnosis of malnutrition can be facilitated by determination of a number of biochemical parameters. Knowledge of these permits individualized nutrition therapy. The most important deficits affecting ill elderly subjects are those relating to proteins, iron, zinc, selenium, and vitamins B12, B1, B6 and D. Malnutrition prolongs hospital stays, imposes enormous costs on health services, and causes considerable mortality. The present, very rapid increase in the size of the elderly population will exacerbate the problem of malnutrition. Therefore more attention should be paid to malnutrition by treating it as a disease in its own right and including it in the training of doctors and nurses.