title: Loss of taste in the elderly: sex differences.
abstract: The sensation of taste was tested in 280 normal people of all ages and both sexes. The sensitivity for the basic tastes decreased with increasing age, but more in men than in women; there was no sex difference in people under the age of 40. The different smoking habits of men and women did not explain this finding. It is suggested that there is a sex-specific decrease in the taste sensitivity with aging.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000370:Ageusia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013652:Taste Threshold