[Aging of digestive tract]. / Le vieillissement de l'appareil digestif.

ABSTRACT

Recent data on ageing of the stomach, gut and pancreatic exocrine function are discussed. Ageing seems to be responsible for several physiological changes, including hyperexcitability of gastroduodenal parietal cells, alterations in the villous surface of enterocytes resulting in decreased trophicity, and decline of pancreatic exocrine secretion. However, ageing does not appear to have major consequences in healthy elderly subjects, except for poor response to such stresses as undernutrition and illness.