Frailty May Hike Risk of Dementia

A study published in The Lancet Neurology found adults 59 and older with higher levels of frailty were more likely to exhibit both Alzheimer's-related brain changes and symptoms of dementia, reports Psych Central . "By reducing an individual's physiological reserve, frailty could trigger the clinical expression of dementia when it might remain asymptomatic in someone who is not frail," said Dalhousie University Professor Kenneth Rockwood. "This indicates that a 'frail brain' might be more susceptible to neurological problems like dementia as it is less able to cope with the pathological burden." The researchers modeled 456 participants who had either no dementia or Alzheimer's dementia, and who subsequently died and had brain autopsies. The team also devised a frailty index using 41 combined components of health status, including fatigue, joint and heart problems, osteoporosis, and mobility. Generally, 8 percent of subjects had substantial Alzheimer's-related brain changes without having been diagnosed with dementia, and 11 percent had Alzheimer's dementia but little disease-related brain changes. Frailty and Alzheimer's-related brain changes were found to independently contribute to dementia status, while an association between frailty and Alzheimer's-related brain changes was also observed after ruling out activities of daily living from the frailty index and adjusting for other risk factors, like stroke, heart failure, high blood pressure, and diabetes.