Frailty, Chronic Diseases and their Correlation
Frailty and chronic diseases are also prevalent in our elderly. At NHG, we believe prevention is better than cure. To this end, we look at addressing these conditions among older adults in order to prevent the worsening of their health.

Chronic Diseases
Chronic diseases are medical conditions that persist and worsen over time. They include diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.
Chronic diseases is a common condition amongst our elderly. In Singapore the number of older adults with more than two chronic diseases has almost doubled from  2009 to 2017 ^[1]. In fact, the proportion of Singaporeans above 60 who have difficulty carrying out ADL (activities of daily living) has also increased ^[1].

Frailty
Frailty is a geriatric condition that involves the loss of physiological reserves, and makes older adults more vulnerable to negative health outcomes. The number of frail patients in Singapore has increased by more than a third from 36,000 in 2010 to 49,000 in 2017, according to a study by NHG.
This means that a greater proportion of elderly are experiencing reduced ability to perform normal day-to-day activities and in turn, the loss of independence. When this happens, the affected may spiral into physical or emotional isolation.
For frail patients, their health declines with every stress event. As such, minor event such as a common cold can put them at a high risk of poor outcomes.
To target this problem, our researchers have embarked on GERI-LABS study – Longitudinal Assessment of Biomarkers for characterisation of early sarcopenia and predicting frailty and functional decline in community-dwelling Asian older adults.
Through it, our researchers aim to predict the onset of sarcopenia (muscle ageing), frailty and functional decline in older adults. They do so by observing changes in biomarkers of sarcopenia in community-dwelling adults.
The study discovered that 25% of participants were sarcopenic, and were at higher risks of malnutrition.

Possible Correlation between Frailty and Chronic Diseases
As people with chronic diseases age, they show different outcomes and react differently to treatments. The reason is unclear but we believe frailty plays an important part. Currently, there is a lack of research on how frailty and chronic diseases affect one another, especially in the Asian context. We plan to study this correlation in depth. With this knowledge, we can remodel our current treatment to provide holistic care for our elderly.

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References:
[1] Choo, F. (2019, May 7). Over-60s suffering more with chronic diseases than a decade ago: Study. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/over-60s-suffering-more-with-chronic-diseases-than-a-decade-ago-study.