Normal Aging Changes

Aging changes the amount of physiologic reserve available to respond to illness; it does not make new illness normal. A slower response, reduced muscle strength, drier skin, altered vision or hearing, and lower renal clearance may be expected, but the person's usual baseline remains the reference point. Normal change is generally gradual and stable. A sudden change in cognition, continence, mobility, or function is a change in condition until assessed. The bedside question is two-part: which finding fits expected aging, and which finding exceeds that pattern? The answer affects fall prevention, communication, hydration, skin protection, and medication safety. The Canadian Geriatrics Society 5Ms—Mind, Mobility, Medications, Multicomplexity, and Matters Most—provides a person-centred framework for linking physiologic changes with function and priorities.