[Diseases of the digestive tract in old age (author's transl)]

Diseases of the digestive tract follow a changed pattern in old age. Their particularities as well as the geriatric aspects of diagnosis and therapy are discussed. Inflammations, neoplasms and circulatory disorders in the alimentary tract are discussed, while affections of the stomach, colon and the biliary tract are described in more detail because of their frequency and the propensity to complications and increased mortality rate involved. Although the therapeutical means and methods available for elderly patients do not differ substantially from those available for younger ones, certain guiding lines should be taken into consideration. The author shows by means of examples that certain difficulties in treating old people must not be allowed to lead either to an overrealous or nihilistic attitude.