Feelings of frailty may signal early signs of ageing at 40, finds study

Feeling lonely or older than your age at 40 According to a study these negative perceptions about ageing could be early signs of frailty even in your 40sUsually associated with older age frailty is a recognised medical condition marked by reduced strength energy and ability to recover from illnessPrefrailty is the reversible transition stage that comes before however experts say its illdefined and requires more understandingThe research published in the journal BMC Public Health showed that it can begin much earlier with subtle psychological and social cuesMany people assume frailty is something that happens when we get much older said lead author Tom Brennan from Flinders Universitys Caring Futures Institute in AustraliaBut our research shows the psychological and behavioural warning signs can emerge decades earlier in people in their 40s 50s and 60s For example feeling older than you are might sound like a throwaway comment but it turns out it can be a sign that somethings not quite rightrdquo he addedFor the study the researchers analysed data from 321 Australian adults aged 40 and over 60 per cent of participants were classified as prefrail 35 per cent as nonfrail and 5 per cent as frailThe analysis found that both prefrail and frail individuals were more likely to report loneliness and negative attitudes toward aging compared to nonfrail participantsLoneliness was one of the strongest predictors of prefrailty in our sample highlighting that social isolation is a critical factor that can affect overall resilience even in a relatively healthy and mobile population Brennan saidAnother key finding was that prefrail individuals commonly reported feeling older than their chronological age even when physical health markers were within expected rangesFeeling older than you are can be a meaningful psychological signal said Brennan We need to emphasise the importance of fostering positive attitudes towards aging as this can have a huge impact on how people adjust to their later stages of lifeBrennan said the study highlights an important intervention point that could help to prevent the progression of frailty later in lifeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params