Anorexia of Aging: Risk Factors, Consequences, and Potential Treatments
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome 00168, Italy
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Nutrients 2016, 8(2), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8020069
Received: 19 December 2015
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Accepted: 20 January 2016
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Published: 27 January 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food and Appetite)
Older people frequently fail to ingest adequate amount of food to meet their essential energy and nutrient requirements. Anorexia of aging, defined by decrease in appetite and/or food intake in old age, is a major contributing factor to under-nutrition and adverse health outcomes in the geriatric population. This disorder is indeed highly prevalent and is recognized as an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality in different clinical settings. Even though anorexia is not an unavoidable consequence of aging, advancing age often promotes its development through various mechanisms. Age-related changes in life-style, disease conditions, as well as social and environmental factors have the potential to directly affect dietary behaviors and nutritional status. In spite of their importance, problems related to food intake and, more generally, nutritional status are seldom attended to in clinical practice. While this may be the result of an “ageist” approach, it should be acknowledged that simple interventions, such as oral nutritional supplementation or modified diets, could meaningfully improve the health status and quality of life of older persons.
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Keywords:
nutrition; protein; ghrelin; geriatric syndrome; supplementation; frailty; sarcopenia; malnutrition; appetite; food intake
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MDPI and ACS Style
Landi, F.; Calvani, R.; Tosato, M.; Martone, A.M.; Ortolani, E.; Savera, G.; Sisto, A.; Marzetti, E. Anorexia of Aging: Risk Factors, Consequences, and Potential Treatments. Nutrients 2016, 8, 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8020069
AMA Style
Landi F, Calvani R, Tosato M, Martone AM, Ortolani E, Savera G, Sisto A, Marzetti E. Anorexia of Aging: Risk Factors, Consequences, and Potential Treatments. Nutrients. 2016; 8(2):69. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8020069
Chicago/Turabian StyleLandi, Francesco, Riccardo Calvani, Matteo Tosato, Anna Maria Martone, Elena Ortolani, Giulia Savera, Alex Sisto, and Emanuele Marzetti. 2016. "Anorexia of Aging: Risk Factors, Consequences, and Potential Treatments" Nutrients 8, no. 2: 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8020069
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