[Endangering the water-electrolyte balance in gastrointestinal diseases in the aged]

In old people the range of operation, as well as the adaptability of the electrolyte and water metabolism, is reduced by the involutive reduction of the renal, pulmonary and endocrinic functions, as well as by a reduced feeling of thirst, a reduction of the buffer mechanisms, and a dwindling amount of body water. The threat to the maintenance of the requisite amount of body-water and to a normal electrolysis, caused by gastro-intestinal illnesses, is discussed from the point of view of geriatrics. Hydro-mineral upsets occurring in gastroenterology are primarily caused either by an inadequate supply, inadequate absorption, or by an extra-ordinary loss of intestinal secretions, as well as by interference with the normal electrolyte and water metabolism due to medical treatment. Situations in which such hydro-mineral disturbances wright occur are indicated and therapeutic measures suggested. We assert and prove that in old people the danger of extreme reduction of body-water and electrolysis frequently presents a greater threat to life than the illness from which it proceeds, and we maintain that a due consideration of this problem can in many cases literally save the life of the old patient.