Once the elderly person stops eating and drinking an elderly person can live on average of 2 weeks, with an average of 10 days.
If an elderly person goes without eating any food and drinking no water, the elderly person can last and live for a few days to 2 weeks, although without water, the fluid deficiency causes kidney function to fail within a few days.
A person can live longer without food than they can without water and without water people often die within a few days or so, but with at least drinking water, but not eating food you can survive around a few weeks or sometimes a month.
With no food, but occasional sips of water or ice chips, an elderly person can live for 1 to 3 weeks.
With very little food, but regular fluid intake, the elderly person can live several weeks to a month or longer, depending on the body's stored fat and muscle reserves.
Although general survival without water for healthy people, you can live around 3 to 7 days maximum.
But you can die sooner without water as it can vary.
For general survival without food but with water for healthy people, you can live around 1 to 2 months or up to 70 days or a bit longer, depending on your body fat.
The main factors that influence the elderly person or other person's survival also depend on hydration, underlying health and hospice status, body reserves and activity level.
Bedridden or resting people require far less energy.
People with more stored fat, muscle mass, or prior good nutrition may sustain themselves slightly longer than frail or severely cachectic (wasted) people.
And for elderly people in the natural dying process or hospice care, their metabolism slows down drastically, and the natural sensation of hunger and thirst also often fades away.
And a lack of fluids also impacts the body much faster than a lack of food.