Unraveling the Mysteries of Frailty and Aging

“Frailty” and “aging” are not the same thing // Photo Credit: Free Pik.

The terms’ frailty’ and ‘aging’ often intertwine in senior health but differ. Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to stressors due to a decline in physiological reserves. At the same time, aging is a natural, chronological process.

According to a recent review from gerontologists based in Canada and Mexico, only about 10 percent of community-dwelling seniors meet the criteria for frailty.

These individuals are highly vulnerable to potentially devastating health problems, painting a poignant picture of the challenges faced by some older adults.

This chart illustrates how much oxygen people with a specific type of heart failure need to do everyday activities compared to their maximum oxygen capacity. The chart shows various daily activities along the bottom, each with a colored bar that rises to show how much of their peak oxygen capacity is needed for that activity. For example, resting only requires 23% of their peak capacity, while jogging at 5 mph needs 188%. There’s also a dashed line that represents the point at which these patients typically reach their anaerobic threshold — this is where their bodies start to produce lactate, which is a sign that they’re working very hard. For this chart, it’s when they’re using more than their average peak oxygen capacity. In simpler terms, the chart is saying that for someone with this type of heart failure, even simple tasks like getting dressed can require a significant amount of their available energy, and activities like getting groceries are far beyond what they can do without overexerting themselves.

Navigating the Perils of Frailty

For older adults with advanced cardiovascular disease, the frailty rate skyrockets to nearly 60 percent. Here, a heart attack or major surgery can trigger a cascade of events, leading to what the study’s authors describe as “a brisk catabolic response.”

This response, fueled by bed rest and undernutrition, sets the stage for a downward spiral of deconditioning, leaving patients grappling with diminished aerobic power and functional capacity.

The Power of Exercise in…