What is Frailty?

More than 50% of the European population aged over 50 are pre-fragile or frail.

Frailty, a clinical syndrome characterized by marked vulnerability due to decline in reserve and function across multiple physiologic systems, is common among older people. By 2050, approximately 21.3% of the global population will be 60 years or older, up from 9.2% in 1990.

Frailty manifests as the inability to tolerate stressful events and has been associated with adverse outcomes, such as falls, delirium, institutionalization, incident disability, and mortality. This is also an independent risk factor for poor outcomes after surgery (eg, prolonged hospitalizations, increased susceptibility to deconditioning, and faster functional decline) and is associated with higher health care use and corresponding costs.

What is Sarcopenia
and how it can affect people?

Sarcopenia can be described as a condition characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. Although it is primarily a disease of the elderly, its development may be associated with conditions that are not exclusively seen in older persons. Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength and it is strictly correlated with physical disability, poor quality of life and death.

Risk factors for sarcopenia include age, gender and level of physical activity. In conditions such as malignancy, rheumatoid arthritis and aging, lean body mass is lost while fat mass may be preserved or even increased.

The loss in muscle mass may be associated with increased body fat so that despite normal weight there is marked weakness, this is a condition called sarcopenic obesity.

There is an important correlation between inactivity and losses of muscle mass and strength, this suggests that physical activity should be a protective factor for the prevention but also the management of sarcopenia.

COVID-19
Sarcopenia and other comorbidities

The COVID-19 pandemic is an extraordinary global emergency that has led to the implementation of unprecedented measures in order to stem the spread of the infection. This has resulted in reductions in physical activity and changes in dietary intakes that have the potential to accelerate sarcopenia, a deterioration of muscle mass and function (more likely in older populations), as well as increases in body fat.

These changes in body composition are associated with a number of chronic, lifestyle diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, osteoporosis, frailty, cognitive decline, and depression.

What is Exergaming?

Exergaming is defined as technology driven physical activities, such as video game play, that requires participants to be physically active or exercise in order to play the game. These games require the user to apply full body motion to participate in virtual sports, in group fitness exercise or other interactive physical activities. The concept behind Exergaming takes the passion for gaming and turns what was once considered a sedentary behavior into a potentially more active and healthy activity.