Frailty in the media

March 2017 Summary With more people living longer there will be larger numbers of people experiencing declines in physical and mental capacity who may also need care for day-to-day activities. These needs are not well met within existing models of health care. There...

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The thing older people fear the most is losing their independence. A regular, structured program of physical activity could preserve independence, even in at-risk older adults.

Community services should shift their focus from those at a ‘high risk of hospital admission’ to those with a frailty syndrome to reduce hospital bed usage, according to new guidance published this week.

Aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility training can improve overall physical function—even among people who already have lost muscle mass due simply to aging—a condition called “sarcopenia.”

Hidenori Arai, 55, a professor at Kyoto University’s Faculty of Medicine, formed the Japanese Study Group on Sarcopenia and Frailty earlier this year to establish ways to enable elderly people to live long healthy lives without nursing care.

Aging may be inevitable but frailty is not, says the author Richard Gunderman in this article dated 8 December 2014. Dr Richard Gunderman provides insights on symptoms and the challenge of treating frailty.

This Wall Street Journal article discusses age-related muscle loss. “Researchers have a better handle on frailty, a syndrome of decreased strength reserves, reduced resistance to physical and psychological stressors, and cumulative decline across multiple systems of the body, including the brain”, the author writes. “In addition to the mounting evidence of the benefits of physical activity in stemming decline, there is an emerging body of research that suggests older people should eat more protein, with a focus on leaner sources.”

Frailty is a medical condition, not an inevitable result of aging says the author Marlene Cimmons in this article dated 10 December 2012. Dr Linda Fried provides some insights on symptoms and management.