The following symptoms and complaints may indicate senility (weakness due to old age):
- Loss of memory (of names, dates, etc.).
- Stubbornness
- Unwanted weight loss
- Immunodeficiency (immune deficiency)
- Insomnia (sleep disorders, such as difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep).
- Exhaustion and fatigue states
- “Hormonal aging”
- Adrenopause (exponentially increasing decline in adrenal DHEA(S) production).
- Somatopause (increasing decline in STH secretion (somatotropic hormone, English “human growth hormone”: growth hormone).
- Menopause (female menopause; climacteric).
- Andropause (male menopause)
Structural and physiological changes regarding:
- Sensory organs
- Hearing loss – loss of ability to perceive high frequencies; limitation of peripheral hearing; difficulty in analyzing and classifying speech and sound patterns, which in turn leads to impaired speech comprehension
- Impairment of the sense of sight – Due to the loss of lens elasticity, especially the accommodation width is greatly reduced. Color perception is also reduced to a diminished spectrum, and the decrease in lens transparency sets the stage for the pathological development of lens opacification (cataract).
- Decrease in the senses of smell and taste – can lead to a lack of appetite and decreasing nutritional level.
- Impairment of the sense of touch
- Locomotor system
- Body composition – especially decrease in muscle and organ mass (BCM; body cell mass) – and resulting functional limitations.
- Functional capacity of the organs
- Decline in all known renal function parameters over the course of life and limitation of renal function Cave (Warning): consideration in pharmacotherapy, since many drugs are eliminated renally (“excreted via the kidney“) and from therefore longer half-lives are to be expected in old age. In this context, attention should be paid to penicillin, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines and digoxin, among others.
- Decrease in the size and blood flow to the liver and pancreas (pancreas), resulting in reduced glucose tolerance and the decline of individual enzyme activities.
- Decreased motility (ability to move) throughout the gastrointestinal tract (gastrointestinal tract) and declining frequency of peristaltic waves.
- Increasing atrophy (decrease) of the gastric and intestinal mucosa (lining) leading to decreased intrinsic factor, gastric acid, and peptin secretion, and decreased absorption (uptake) of iron and calcium
- Decrease in bone mass (bone loss; osteoporosis → bone pain).
- Decrease in collagen and elastin (aging skin).