3 Answers

If they bathe every day they shouldn't.Some elderly folk suffer with incontinence, this can cause a urine odour.Unfortunately some elderly people do not have assistance with their daily basic needs, showering, washing of clothes etc, therefore they may have an odour.Certain medications can cause the body to produce odours.

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Elderly people tend to be on a lot of medications. Some medications can cause an odor that permeates through their skin. Also, due to joint pain from ageing, they use topical ointments and lotions that come with an odor. 

http://www.whycenter.com/why-do-old-people-smell/  >>>>It is inappropriate to categorize all elderly people as smelly, but there are certain reasons that can make an old person smell bad. As we grow older, our bodies weaken both internally and externally thus we become dependent on more and more medications. These medicines are often responsible for the bad smell. The smelly byproducts of medicines which form within our body itself are filtered out of the system usually, but as we grow older, our body loses the ability to do so successfully. Also, the volume and number of medicines taken is much more than what was required when the body was younger, thus old people begin to smell dire. Elderly men and women often suffer from arthritis pain, which is somewhat relieved by applying a mixture of Ben-gay and baby powder. This mixture has an offensive smell that is hard to tolerate for many and thus the elders who must use it, become associated with bad smell.

A common issue that the old populace suffers from is bad breath, and contrary to what some may think, it has little to do with brushing properly. Our entire body loses its strength as we grow old and parts like finger nails, hair and teeth start to rot away. Naturally, some old folks have severe bad breath issues because they have decaying teeth and other associated dental diseases and problems. Other orifices, apart from the mouth, may also begin to show signs of decay due to old age and thus the unfortunate elders begin to smell really bad.

An old and weak body can sometimes become unable to do even the most basic of activities like taking a bath or brushing their teeth. As with any other person, old people begin to smell after a number of days pass by without a proper bath. Folks, who are mostly bed-ridden, suffer the worst as they are not even able to go to the bathroom for excretory purposes. Clothes begin to smell as the old person can no longer wash his laundry regularly without help and suddenly the entire person seems like a very smelly human being. As we age, we lose our ability to look after ourselves properly and in that we resemble the infants. Therefore, just like an infant needs love and patient assistance to survive, an elder needs the same from his/her family.