Lips and labial regions in old age

The author records the morphology and functions of 80 old (66 to 92 years) subjects lips and labial regions. She mentions the following types: 1. no wrinkles, normal lips and surroundings; 2. marked sulcus nasolabialis; 3. marked sulcus nasolabialis and sulcus tristitiae; 4. marked sulcus nasolabialis and sulcus tristitiae and many small wrinkles instead or in place of the latter; 5. sagging, floppy lower lips. Those types were often found to coincide with the look, the gait, the psycho-somatic status. According to our experiments, the simultaneous marked presence of sulcus nasolabialis and sulcus tristitiae is a real sign of old age. Lonely old people often have marked sulci tristitiae and many small wrinkles. The morphologic and functional changes described in the foregoing are related primarily with the psychovegetative disposition; their emergence is not due to the normal or abnormal clinical laboratory parameters. The above recording is an effort to provide guidance on geriatric therapy, prognosis, rehabilitation, possibilities of prevention.