DETECTING and treating frailty and pre-frailty in people early may help to reduce the risk of dementia, according to a study.
The research, led by the University of Glasgow, analysed dementia data and found that compared with non-frail individuals, the risk of dementia increased by 20% for individuals with pre-frailty and almost doubled for those with frailty.
As frailty may be preventable in many cases, the researchers say this new data suggests early detection and treatment of the condition may in turn reduce the risk of dementia attributable to it.
Of the five components used to define frailty, four – weight loss, tiredness, low grip strength and slow gait speed – were all independently associated with increased dementia risk.
The study analysed the data from 143,215 UK Biobank participants, 68,500 (47.8%) of whom were pre-frail and 5565 (3.9%) were frail. During a median follow-up period of 5.4 years, 726 developed dementia.
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Dr Carlos Celis-Morales of Glasgow University, one of the authors of the study, said: “Given that currently available medicines can neither cure nor reverse dementia, and offer little symptom relief, there is an urgent need to identify potential risk factors that could prevent or slow development of this terrible disease.
“This study further exposes the link between pre-frailty and frailty and the risk of dementia, and highlights the importance, moving forward, of early identification and treatment of patients with frailty.
“Public strategies aiming to improve physical capabilities, especially those related to muscle strength in middle-aged and older adults, might contribute to reducing the burden of frailty and, as a consequence, reduce the dementia risk attributable to frailty.”
In the study sample, pre-frailty and frailty accounted for 9.9% and 8.6% of dementia cases respectively.
The research also found a link between frailty in younger patients and a risk of dementia. Individuals with frailty aged under 60 had an increased risk of dementia compared with those who were older.
The study is published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity journal.
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