How May Sensory Changes Affect the Everyday Lives of Older People?

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How May Sensory Changes Affect the Everyday Lives of Older People?

Our awareness of the world occurs through physiological mechanisms that process afferent, sensory information. Like all physiological mechanisms these are subject to detrimental changes as the body ages. It is essential to understand these changes so that we can meet any extra requirements that may ensue. This is increasingly important as the proportion of the population that is elderly steadily rises. Individuals over the age of 65 now account for 16% of the population (OPCS, 1991a). This essay will identify the problems that arise for the elderly and suggest ways they can be managed.

Gustation shows least age-related decrement because, unlike other neural cells, taste receptors have life spans of only a few days and are continually replaced. Salt and sucrose can easily be identified at all ages, but more complex taste stimuli (eg. carrot) cause difficulties for old people, suggesting that olfaction, rather than gustation, might be impaired (Doty et al., 1984). Olfaction shows marked age-related decline with 25% of 65-80 year-olds, and 50% of people over 80, reporting anosmia (Doty et al., 1984). Possible causes include atrophy of the olfactory bulb (Ordy & Brizzee, 1975),