I. Frailty

It’s important to avoid frailty in ageing. That’s because frailty is linked to poor health, disability, and death. Of course, being healthy helps ward off frailty. But specifically, what can we do to reduce our chance of frailty in ageing?

Most research has studied those who are already of advanced age. Also, it doesn’t look at them over long periods of time. That doesn’t help those in their 40s and 50s to know what to do. Nor what to avoid doing.

II. The Study

Therefore, researchers wanted to find out what those in midlife could do to reduce their chance of frailty. To do so, they studied 6,357 participants in the British Whitehall II cohort.

Researchers followed participants for an average of 20.4 years. During that time, 445 developed frailty. Researchers classified people as frail if they had three or more of the following.

• Slow walking speed. 
• Low grip strength. 
• Exhaustion.
• Low physical activity.
• Weight loss.

The researchers periodically measured these healthful behaviors:

• Not smoking. 
• Drinking alcohol in moderation. 
• 2.5 hours or more per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
• Eating fruits or vegetables at least twice a day.

The researchers found that each healthy behavior at age 50 was associated with lower risk of becoming frail. Thus, the risk of frailty decreased with each increase in the number of healthful behaviors.

Remember that the health benefits of drinking moderately apply to wine, beer, and spirits. (Spirits are whiskey, rum, tequila, vodka, gin, etc.)

III. Resources: Avoid Frailty in Ageing

Web Pages

Drinking and Frailty: Alcohol Reduces Risk of Becoming Frail with Age.

Drinking Alcohol and Risk of Frailty.

Readings

Cesari, M., et al. Frailty: An Emerging Public Health Priority. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2016;17(3):188–92. 

Chang, S. & Lin P. Frail phenotype and mortality prediction. Int J Nurs Stud. 2015;52(8):1362–74. 

Kojima, G., et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective associations between alcohol consumption and incident frailty. Age Ageing. 2018;47(1):26–34. 

Kojima, G., et al. Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Reduces Incident Frailty Risk. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2018;66(4):783–8. 

Hoogendijk, E. et al. Frailty: implications for clinical practice and public health. Lancet. 2019;394(10206):1365–75. 

Ortola, R., et al. Patterns of Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Frailty. Bio Sci and Med Sci. 2016;71(2):251–8. 

Walston, J. Frailty. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2011.

Disclaimer

This website makes no suggestions for how to avoid frailty in ageing. Nor to reduce its risk. To do so, contact your doctor.

Note

Both aging and ageing are correct forms of the word.