This research aims to:

- determine how frailty and sex impact the brain, heart, vessels, and lungs regulation

- determine how exercise can reverse frailty in older adults.

In study one, participants will perform three postural transitions:

- sit-to-stand

- lie-to-stand

- lie-to-sit

Participants will also perform three identical constant workload walking tests.

The autonomic (brain, e.g., sympathetic and parasympathetic activity), cardiovascular (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output), and respiratory (e.g., oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide output, ventilation) functions will be assessed in females and males with different frailty statuses.

In study two, frail individuals will perform 15 weeks of progressive strength or aerobic training to determine how exercise can reverse frailty and improve autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory function.

Homeostatic dysregulation compromises rapid adjustments in the autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory regulatory mechanisms affecting maintenance of homeostasis, especially in vulnerable populations (e.g., older adults). The dysregulation exposes them to higher risks of frailty, chronic diseases, and falls.

Frailty is characterized by the degradation of biological and functional reserves to tolerate stressors, resulting in high vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. People living with frailty are under-recognized, under-served, under-appreciated, and poorly understood. This research proposal is critical because it will inform the future development of more robust early frailty risk detection assessments, frailty preventative, and rehabilitative treatment/intervention strategies considering sex differences. Advancements in the fundamental knowledge of the underlying mechanisms regulating autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory responses will inform how to promote health, well-being, and quality of life for females and males living with frailty.

Panel Writeup

The impact of frailty

According to the Canadian Frailty Network, the burden of frailty in Canada is steadily growing. Today over 1.6 million Canadians are medically frail. And in 10 years, well over two million Canadians may be living with frailty. There are 3.75 million caregivers in Canada caring for an older adult (aged 65 and over) with a long-term health problem, disability or age-related condition.

Frailty is also linked to higher consumption of healthcare resources. Of the $220 billion spent on healthcare annually in Canada (11 per cent of GDP), 46 per cent is spent on people over 65 years old, although they are only 16 per cent of the population. The operating costs to care for the seven per cent of Canadians over the age of 65 that are living in long term care homes is $31 billion dollars.