Low serum albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, and body mass are risk factors for frailty in elderly people with diabetes-a cross-sectional study.

Background: Frailty is broadly characterized by vulnerability and decline in physical, mental and social activities and is more common in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Frailty is closely associated with nutrition, muscle strength, inflammation, and hormones etc. In hormones, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and cortisol are suggested to be such candidates affecting frailty.

A High Serum Cortisol/DHEA-S Ratio Is a Risk Factor for Sarcopenia in Elderly Diabetic Patients.

Context: Elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a high prevalence of frailty and/or sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is thought to be related to discordant secretions of the adrenal hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), as well as the sulfate ester of DHEA (DHEA-S). The current study sought to evaluate the risk factors for sarcopenia in elderly patients with T2DM.

Frailty in elderly diabetes patients.

Frailty is a state of vulnerability and a consequence of cumulative decline in multiple physiological systems over a lifespan. The occurrence of frailty depends on deterioration in muscle and nerve function, declining cardiopulmonary reserve and loss of executive function. Diabetes mellitus (DM) often causes functional impairment in each of the above systems, thus leading to a loss of whole body homeostasis and deterioration in physical function.

Low glycated hemoglobin level is associated with severity of frailty in Japanese elderly diabetes patients.

Aims/introduction: Previously, a study using a narrowly defined (physical base) frailty scale reported that both good and bad (U-shaped curve) glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were frailty risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, no such studies in Japan have shown this. We aimed to evaluate the frailty risk factors including HbA1c in elderly Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using a broadly defined (both physical and psychosocial base) frailty scale, the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS).