Malnutrition and Malabsorption in the Elderly

This review provides an overview of the causes and management of malnutrition and malabsorption in the elderly. Malnutrition is common in the elderly and is a problem of immense concern. Malabsorption is present in the elderly more often than is realized, and symptoms resulting from malabsorption tend to be muted in the elderly. Factors such as physical disabilities, malabsorption, faddish diets, lack of appetite, depression, loneliness and social isolation can result in malnutrition. Community dwellers who are poor and homebound and have lack of access to medical care are particularly at risk, and these factors should create a higher degree of awareness among primary care physicians. There is no lack of screening tools to assess malnutrition, but each has its limitations. The Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) is a simple, rapid and reliable tool for assessing nutrition in the elderly in the community or in hospital. The cornerstone in the treatment of malnutrition in the elderly is early diagnosis and assessment of the nutritional status. Malabsorption may result from problem arising from improper mixing or with the digestive mediators (e.g. postgastrectomy), mucosal and mural causes (e.g. gluten-sensitive enteropathy) and microbial causes (bacterial overgrowth).