Taste disturbances are common among elderly people due to physiological changes, diseases, and medications. Taste disturbances are often underestimated and go unrecognised in elderly people. As many as 11% of elderly people using multiple drugs report taste aberrations.

A 65-year-old man complained of taste loss during his third week of captopril treatment. The dose at the time was 150 mg/day. No other drugs were prescribed. He also complained of a persistent salty taste in his mouth. Captopril was stopped and his taste recovered after about 10 days. The drug was then restarted at the same dose and five days later the disturbance of taste recurred.