Tag Archives: older people

Introduction Despite notable advances in care, cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the UK.1 Currently, about one million people in the UK are living with heart failure (HF), and the prevalence increases significantly with age.1 There is a strong relationship between HF and increasing age, with 80% of all cases occurring in those aged over 60 years.1 Although mortality from HF has declined, the number of people living with disability has increased, particularly among older people.2 Moreover, about 385,000 people are living with undiagnosed and untreated HF, and people can wait up to three years for a d

Frailty is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and, while the precise pathophysiological mechanisms linking frailty and CVD remain to be elucidated, it is likely that this association is bi-directional.4,6,7 Loss of muscle mass and function (sarcopaenia), insulin resistance and chronic low-level inflammation observed in the frailty state can predispose to CVD. On the other hand, the presence of CVD can lead to reduced activity, muscle loss and exhaustion, thus, predisposing to frailty. Large cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that those with CVD were up to two to three times more likely to be frail than tho