The Physiology of Ageing

Abstract

As a person grows old, organ function is challenged both by disease and by the physiological processes associated with ageing. In clinical geriatric medicine, it is pathological change rather than decaying physiology which is the major cause of morbidity and mortality. For example, age-related loss in muscle power is dwarfed by the motor disability precipitated by a cerebral infarction, although the former may be of some importance when attempting to rehabilitate the patient. Thus, a full diagnostic functional assessment in an individual elderly patient together with a rational approach to management needs to take account of the physiological backdrop against which the diseases dealt with in this book occur.