Fragility in the elderly may be linked to an increased risk of dementia

New research has shown that frailty in the elderly may be linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Conducted by researchers from the Nova Scotia Health Authority and Dalhousie University in Canada and the Rush University Medical Center in the United States, this new study included 456 adults over 59 years of age without dementia or Alzheimer's disease. beginning of the study.

Participants underwent cognitive tests and neurological examinations every year over a 10-year period, and 53% of participants were diagnosed with possible or probable Alzheimer's dementia during their last clinical examination.

The researchers also developed a fragility index to use in each badessment, which badessed 41 components of health such as fatigue, joint and heart problems, osteoporosis, mobility and meal preparation.

The findings, published in the journal The Lancet Neurology, showed that after post-mortem autopsy of participants' brains, those with higher levels of frailty were more likely to exhibit both changes brain-related Alzheimer's disease and dementia symptoms, while significant brain changes, but that were not frail, showed fewer clinical symptoms of dementia.

The findings are also valid even after the researchers took into account other risk factors such as stroke, heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes.

The researchers say the findings suggest that frailty could make seniors more vulnerable to Alzheimer's dementia and may reduce the effects of dementia-related brain changes on dementia symptoms.

"By reducing an individual's physiological reserve, frailty can trigger the clinical expression of dementia while it may remain asymptomatic in a person who is not fragile," says lead professor Kenneth Rockwood. "This indicates that a" fragile brain "might be more susceptible to neurological problems like dementia because it is less able to cope with the pathological burden."

"Although further research is needed, since frailty is potentially reversible, it is possible to help people maintain their functioning and independence later in life could reduce both the risk of dementia and the severity of the common debilitating symptoms in this disease, "added Rockwood.

Most people who develop Alzheimer's dementia are over 65 years old and suffer from many other health problems.

Fragility has already been badociated with higher rates of cognitive impairment and dementia, but little research has been done to determine the relationship of these conditions.