Aging and the microbiome: implications for asthma in the elderly?

In the elderly, asthma remains a clinical challenge. Recognition, diagnosis and treatment are all complex. Influenced by processes, such as aging, the identification of an 'asthma microbiome' presents a further challenge. This editorial discusses aging and the 'asthma microbiome' separately and then evaluates their potential relationship. Current evidence suggests that differences in the airway microbiome are associated with asthma, however, whether such associations are comparable or different for late-onset disease is yet to be established. Microbes are now linked to fundamental physiological processes, such as aging, based on data from invertebrate systems. This will likely confer implications for asthma in the elderly, and it is crucial that such emerging scientific data are considered in the context of aging, asthma and late-onset disease.