It’s very important to avoid frailty in aging.

            Overview

I.   Frailty

II.  The Study

III. Resources

I. Frailty

Why is it so important to avoid frailty in aging? It’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. Study: How to Avoid Frailty in Aging

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

Researchers followed those people 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 actions

• • 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 healthful behavior at age 50 was linked with lower risk of becoming frail.

Remember that the health benefits of drinking moderately apply to wine, beer, and spirits (liquor).

III. Resources: Avoid Frailty in Aging

Web

• • Drinking and Frailty: Alcohol Reduces Risk of Becoming Frail with Age.
  • Alcohol and Frailty: Drinking Reduces the Risk.
  • Drinking Alcohol and Risk of Frailty.
  • Alcohol Drinking and Falls among Seniors.
  • Should Older People Drink Less or More Alcohol for Health?

Readings

• • Cesari, M., et al. Frailty: An Emerging Public Health Priority. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 17(3):188–92. 
  • Chang, S. & Lin P. Frail phenotype and mortality prediction. Int J Nurs Stud. 52(8):1362–74. 
  • Kojima, G., et al. A review of associations between consuming alcohol and frailty. Age Ageing. 47(1):26–34. 
  • Kojima, G., et al. Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Reduces Frailty Risk. J Am Geriatr Soc, 66(4):783–8. 
  • Hoogendijk, E. et al. Frailty: implications for public health. Lancet. 394(10206):1365–75. 
  • Ortola, R., et al. Patterns of alcohol consumption and risk of frailty. Bio Sci and Med Sci. 71(2):251–8. 
  • Walston, J. Frailty. Saunders, 2011.

Notes

• • This site gives no advice on how to avoid frailty in aging. Please see your doctor with any questions.