An 83-year-old resident of a nursing facility worked as a chef until retirement. The resident told the nurse "I am greatly disappointed that food just doesn't taste as good as it used to."
Which of the following facts should underlie the response that then nurse chooses? A) The function of the cranial nerves mediating taste declines with age.
B) Decreased taste sensitivity is indicative of periodontal disease or thrush.
C) While hearing, sight, and smell diminish with the aging process, taste is normally unaffected.
D) The neurological components of the sense of taste normally disappear by the ninth decade.
A
Feedback:
Some decline in the cranial nerves mediating taste is a normal, age-related change, though complete disappearance of taste would constitute a pathological finding. Some loss of taste acuity is not necessarily indicative of oral disease.
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