Dehydration risk rises with age

Are the elderly more prone to dehydration? According to recent scientific reports, yes -- and there are newer clues as to why.

Changes as we age can induce changes in mouth, throat and stomach nerves that affect the sense of thirst which drives much of our water drinking. When those nerves change, our perception of being thirsty also changes.

The study concluded that older men drank only half as much water as younger men to satisfy their thirst out of a group comprising both 20 year-olds and 60-year olds who were injected with salt water to set off the body's quest for water.