Managing Frailty - Translating from Human Research

Frailty is well-defined in humans as a clinical syndrome that results in increased risk of disability, dependence, and death. Let's take a look at a review of strategies used to manage frailty in humans, which offers insights that can be translated across to frailty management in dogs.
Apr 21 / CAM Education

 Physical activity and exercise: Strategies to manage frailty

Javier Angulo, Mariam El Assar, Alejandro Álvarez-Bustos, Leocadio Rodríguez-Mañas. Physical activity and exercise: Strategies to manage frailty. Redox Biology, Volume 35. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101513.
This review from 2020 has four main aims:
  1. Provide data and describe the mechanisms involved in frailty which emerge from the aging process itself and/or chronic diseases affecting certain organs and systems.
  2. Show how physical activity and exercise hinder some of those harmful mechanisms, thus improving physical function and delaying or reversing frailty.
  3. Analyse the individual components of the physical exercise programs and their best implementation to abate frailty.
  4. Analyse current evidence and bases for designing, implementing, and evaluating a program of physical exercise for older frail people.

take-home messages from the review...

The World Health Organization defines healthy aging as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older ages.” How do we attain this? Exercise and physical activity is one of the main strategies used to manage and counteract the physical effects of frailty in the elderly – impairment, weakness, diminished function. Exercise reduces frailty by improving both muscle conditioning and systemic function – improving muscle tone, decreasing chronic inflammation and age-related oxidative damage, and improving mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity, among other benefits. Exercise programs to combat frailty target resistance to increase strength and power, but also include aerobic, flexibility, and balance work. Each of these types of exercise benefit physical functioning, but they could also be combined according to the needs of the individual and prescribed as a composite intervention. Therefore, exercise programs designed to counteract frailty should be based on the physical functioning of the individual and then adapted as the program progresses.

While a frailty phenotype has recently been defined in dogs1, additional research into the understanding and treatment of frailty in dogs is needed. In the meantime, we can translate human research findings to find practical management strategies for this condition. Click below to read the full paper on frailty management in humans.
1 - Russell KJ, Mondino A, Fefer G, Griffith E, Saker K, Gruen ME and Olby NJ (2024). Establishing a clinically applicable frailty phenotype screening tool for aging dogs. Front. Vet. Sci. 11:1335463. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1335463

learn more about frailty in dogs

Stay on the cutting edge of veterinary medicine and expand your knowledge of frailty in dogs with CAM webinars on the topic.

professional cpd: allied & veterinary professionals

feeling frail?

Frailty is a defined clinical syndrome that has only recently been described in companion animals. This 2-hour webinar and panel discussion will provide a practical definition of frailty and enable professionals to recognize early signs of frailty, understand how frailty differs from normal aging, and find practical management approaches for this condition.
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professional cpd: veterinary professionals

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