The word “frail” typically conjures up a mental image of an elderly person who has difficulty with mobility and perhaps chronic health problems.
However, in reality, the term does not refer to a strictly senior condition. It can affect anyone at any time in certain circumstances.
In this article, we’ll unpack what frailty is, who it impacts and how you can avoid or delay its development.
What Is Frailty?
Frailty is a syndrome marked by physiological decline, particularly fragility and vulnerability, as though the person might break if they move the wrong way.
Signs of frailty can include:
— Shrinking or weight loss of at least 10 pounds or more in a single year
— Physical exhaustion
— Muscle weakness, especially weak grip strength
— Decline in walking speed
— Low physical activity
Frail individuals may also get sick more easily, take longer to get well or never fully regain their previous level of functioning.
Frailty most often stems from a loss of resilience, but it can also result from a catastrophic health event, such as sepsis, cancer or any other number of medical conditions.
In addition, the chances of growing frail rise with age, which can subsequently increase the risk of falls, prolonged hospital stays and death, adds Dr. Tanya I. Diaz, a board-certified family medicine physician with Orlando Health Medical Group FHV Health in Florida and an expert in geriatric care.
[Read: 11 Signs Your Aging Parent Needs Senior Care]
Who Does Frailty Affect?
Frailty tends to affect older adults more, typically as a result of chronic illness.
A 2015 study from Johns Hopkins University, for instance, estimates that about 15% of the U.S. adult population age 65 and older may be living with frailty and 45% are considered “prefrail.”
Conditions that may contribute to frailty include:
— Diabetes
— Thyroid disease
— Peripheral vascular disease
— An acute illness, such as pneumonia or shingles
— Hormonal changes that occur with age, especially in women
Social and lifestyle factors can also contribute to frailty including:
— Lack of physical activity
— Poor nutrition
— Loneliness or isolation
Frailty is more common among women than men. According to a 2023 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the overall prevalence of frailty was 27.9% for male and 33.2% for female participants. A 2018 study that focused on 3,079 community-dwelling older adults found 8.8% of women versus 5.4% of men were considered frail.
[READ Top Diets for Women Over 50 to Maximize Health and Vitality]
Screening for Frailty
Because frailty is so associated with older age, Diaz says everyone “over age 70 and adults with chronic disease or exceeding weight loss should be screened for frailty.”
Your doctor can screen for frailty as part of your annual physical or wellness visit. Two common screening tools include:
— The Clinical Frailty Scale. With this scale, from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, an experienced clinician examines the patient and grades them on a scale of 1 to 9. Those scoring 1 are considered very fit and robust. Those at the high end of the scale are either terminally ill or severely frail and need ongoing care and support as they approach end of life.
— The FRAIL Scale. The FRAIL scale is a simple questionnaire administered by a clinician that uses self-reported information about the patient’s level of fatigue, strength, aerobic capacity and weight loss. The clinician combines that tally with points related to any chronic health conditions. Those with higher total points are considered frail.
If you or a loved one is undergoing a screening for frailty, it’s important to let your doctor know all the medications you’re taking, Diaz adds. Some medications have side effects that mimic frailty. Ruling out depression is also important; this mental health condition can lead to many similar symptoms of frailty.
[Related:The Truth About Depression in Older Adults]
Can You Avoid, Delay or Reverse Frailty?
Frailty doesn’t necessarily have to be part of your aging storyline. There are some effective lifestyle changes you can make right now that can help you steer clear of frailty later in life. These strategies include:
— Fitness. Muscles follow the “use it or lose it” philosophy, so the more you move, the stronger you’ll be. Diaz recommends getting involved with community fitness classes — yoga and water aerobics, for example, can all be modified for those with limited mobility who need to move gently with reduced impact on the joints.
— Proper nutrition. Getting enough protein, staying well hydrated and ensuring you’re taking in an appropriate number of calories for your body type can help your body stay strong and resilient. (It’s also worth noting that you can be overweight and frail at the same time.) For patients who have difficulty eating and chewing, Diaz suggests adding nutritional supplements with adequate protein content to help build more lean muscle mass.
— Routine medical care. Get regular health screenings for chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and stay on top of your annual and other routine vaccinations.
Experts recommend quitting smoking and avoiding alcohol.
What you shouldn’t do is pin your hopes on finding the solution on the supplement shelf of your local pharmacy.
“One thing I can recommend not doing is taking resveratrol or any other magical supplements that claim to reverse frailty,” notes Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk, a geriatrician based in the San Francisco area. “There is no magic pill or elixir.”
Instead, you’re going to have to work for it the old-fashioned way by focusing on what you eat and how you move.
“It requires more work than merely taking a pill, but it actually does improve your overall health and stave off frailty,” Landsverk points out.
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What Is Frailty and How Can You Avoid It? originally appeared on usnews.com
