Gustatory Sensitivity in Elderly People with Treated and Untreated Essential Hypertension

Abstract

Taste sensitivity and the relationship between taste recognition thresholds and the levels of arterial blood pressure were studied in 138 healthy normotensive elderly subjects aged 65~82 y (NT group), 68 treated essential hypertensive elderly subjects aged 65~83 y (THT group), and 68 untreated essential hypertensive elderly subjects aged 65~85 y (UTHT group). The taste recognition thresholds for sweet (sucrose, saccharin), salty (NaCl, KCl), sour (citric acid) and bitter (caffeine) stimuli as well as the intensity and hedonic (pleasantness) responses to six NaCl suprathreshold concentrations in tomato juice were examined. The results showed that, at the threshold level, the UTHT group had a significantly lower sucrose and NaCl sensitivity compared to the NT group and a significantly lower NaCl, but higher saccharin sensitivity than the THT group. The THT group had a significantly lower saccharin sensitivity than the other two groups. However, no significant differences in suprathreshold intensity estimates and preferences for the six NaCl concentrations in tomato juice were found among three groups, and no significant relationship between blood pressure (systolic, diastolic) and any recognition threshold values was observed in both essential hypertensive groups. These findings suggest that treated essential hypertensive elderly patients had improved taste sensitivity for NaCl as compared with untreated patients, but the data in this study failed to support a major role for taste recognition threshold in the determination of blood pressure levels in essential hypertensive elderly people.