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ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK OFGeriatric Nutrition

ILLUSTRATED HANDBOOK OFGeriatric Nutrition

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    This illustrative handbook provides a comprehensive review of nutritional assessment, intervention programs for the elderly, and health promotion activities. Early aging as well as geriatric disease foreshorten life, but both can be prevented to some extent by diet or by diet and exercise. Diseases that can be nutritionally prevented, giving us a greater chance of achieving our genetically determined lifespans, include nutritional deficiency states and chronic diet-related diseases such as non-insulin-dependent diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and cancer. Disabilities resulting from these diseases and from degenerative arthritis are also subject to modulation by diet. The nutritional requirements of the elderly are mostly similar to those of younger people. Elderly usually need fewer calories and similar nutrient intakes compared with those of younger people. There are certain problems in carrying out nutritional assessment in the elderly, but techniques are now available which make valid assessment possible even in the oldest old. Older persons are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition.

Nutrition is an important determinant of health in older people. Malnutrition in the elderly is often underdiagnosed. Careful nutritional assessment is necessary for both the successful diagnosis and development of comprehensive treatment plans for malnutrition in this population. Aging is part of living. Every human has the choice of aging healthfully or living with sickness and poor quality of life. In the coming years, human aging will be one of the biggest challenges faced by industrialized countries. Because the average life expectancy is continuously increasing, we may be faced with spending more years in poor health. Nutrition has a major role in protecting health and slowing disease progression. Paradigms that promote the nutritional components of healthy aging are needed to increase the age of chronic degenerative disease onset and to maintain healthy, functional lives for as long as possible.

Illustrated Handbook of Geriatric Nutrition offers a comprehensive review of nutritional assessment, intervention programs for the elderly, and health promotion activities. The occurrence of malnutrition is increasing in older population and is associated with a decline in: functional status, impaired muscle function, decreased bone mass, immune dysfunction, anemia, reduced cognitive function, poor wound healing, and delayed recovery from surgery, higher hospital readmission rates, and mortality. Older people often have reduced appetite and energy expenditure, which, coupled with a decline in biological and physiological functions such as reduced lean body mass, changes in cytokine and hormonal level, and changes in fluid electrolyte regulation, delay gastric emptying and diminish senses of smell and taste. In addition pathologic changes of aging such as chronic diseases and psychological illness all play a role in the complex etiology of malnutrition in older people. Over the past decade, the importance of nutritional status has been increasingly recognized in a variety of morbid conditions including cancer, heart disease, and dementia in older adults. Management requires a holistic approach, and underlying causes such as chronic illness, depression, medication and social isolation must be treated. Patients with physical or cognitive impairment require special care and attention. Oral supplements or enteral feeding should be considered in patients at high risk or in patients unable to meet daily requirements.

Illustrated Handbook of Geriatric Nutrition provides the essential knowledge necessary to provide optimal nutritional care for older adults. This Handbook will be of valuable for students and researchers involved in health care both in nutrition and geriatrics.