Keenly aware of the specific medical issues of concern to women, as well as the fact that women may experience certain conditions and treatment differently than men, Harvard Medical School felt the time had come for Harvard Women's Health Watch. Each issue covers a wide range of women’s health topics including breast cancer, diet and nutrition, hormone therapy, exercise, vitamins and supplements, and much more.
Excerpt from Harvard Health Letter
Following health advice should help you reach a fine old age. But do the same rules apply once you get there?
A longer life span can be a double-edged sword if it merely means more years spent impaired. The key is to stay as free of disability as possible. Increased longevity and the burgeoning numbers of the “oldest old” — people in their 80s and 90s — have encouraged research on frailty. That word conjures up a vague array of age-related problems — a shuffling and unsteady gait, weight loss, fatigue, and physical weakness.
At nearly every age past 65, frailty is more common in women than in men. It is associated with increased risk for infections, falls, and fractures that can lead to hospitalization and disability. Such problems can make independent living impossible and result in nursing home stays and earlier death.
Although frailty afflicts an estimated 3.25 million older Americans, it’s poorly understood. Now, however, some researchers are developing more precise criteria that could help identify patients who might benefit from intervention. Others are investigating whether frailty is a distinct and treatable ailment. And new studies offer persuasive evidence that exercise can counter the physical incursions of frailty, even among people of advanced age with entrenched ailments or disabilities.
Are you frail?
Research suggests that a woman is frail if she meets at least three of following criteria:
She has unintentionally lost more than 10 pounds in the previous year.
She feels exhausted.
She ranks in the weakest 20 percent for her age on measures of grip strength.
Her walking speed is in the slowest 20 percent for her age.
She expends less than 270 kcal (calories) per week on physical activity.
Compared to more robust women, those who exhibit one or two of these signs are more than twice as likely to develop a third sign within the next three to four years — evidence that frailty tends to be progressive. Each of these signs may be an early warning.
Source: Fried LP, et al. “Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype,”
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences (2001), Vol. 56, pp. M146–M157.