Chemosensory Impairment and Appetite Commentary on "Impaired Sensory Functioning in Elders: The Relation With Its Potential Determinants

THE relationshipbetween impairedtaste and smell functionand poor appetite reported by de long and colleagues in this issue of the Journal (pp BOOO-BOOO) is a very important finding. Poor appetite is one cause of the decreased energy in-take that occurswith advancingage (1,2).Reductionsin overall energy intake can impair protein and micronutrient status and induce subclinical deficienciesthat directly impact function (1-3). Loss of appetite is especially serious in critically ill elderly patients who are at high risk to developprotein-energymalnu-tritionas well as micronutrientdeficiencies (4).The findings of de long and coworkersare consistentwith the observationthat intensification of flavorand taste can improvefood palatability and/or intake, increase salivary'flow and immunity, and reduce oral complaints in both sick and healthyelders(5-7). While this team did not find thatpoor appetitewas necessar-ily relatedto low energy intakeor low body mass index, furthe