Clinically Important Gastroenterologic Disorders in Korean Elderly

Hong, Weon Seon

Abstract

Although the function of most organ systems in the body decreases with age, aging has relatively little effect on the function of the gastroenterologic organs. This is probably due to the large functional reserve capacity, such as redundancy in the structure of the organ system and excessive production of hormones and enzymes. Most gastroenterologic disorders developed in younger persons may also develop in the elderly. However, the presentation, treatment and prognosis may be different between elderly patients and younger patients. One important thing is the high prevalence of certain disorders in the elderly. For example, the incidence of peptic ulcer, ischemic complications of vascular abnormalities, drug-induced disorders, malignancies, and some other disorders significantly increases with age. These disorders results either from age-determined changes in the gastroenterologic organs or from extragastroenterologic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus, neurologic diseases, and vascular changes. In this paper, an important consideration of common gastroenterologic disorders frequently developed in the Korean elderly is described. In addition, physiologic and pathologic changes of the gastroenterologic organs associated with aging are also discussed.