Japanese Super Aging Society and Frailty Syndrome

In the developed countries including Japan, the average life expectancy is expected to exceed 90 years in the near future. And major causes of death of the super-elderly shift from cancer and cardiac infarction to senility, dementia and pneumonia. These diseases of super-elderly are related to gradual deterioration of both physical and mental abilities to maintain proper condition of daily activities. Several terms have been suggested to describe weaken condition of the super-elderly such as geriatric syndrome, locomotive syndrome, sarcopenia and frailty. Among them, frailty seems to provide an easy-to-understand concept as a word that comprehensively captures both physical and mental deterioration caused by aging. Cycle of frailty causes not only sarcopenia and undernutrition but also decline of life defence mechanism including immune system, homeostasis and surface barrier system. To prevent from the frailty, muscle training, especially resistant muscle training, has been reported as beneficial. Traditional resistance trainings for elderly including Yoga in India, Tai chi, Falun Gong and Qigong in China, may be beneficial since those trainings use abdominal breathing. In Japan, Judo exercises are also tried to prevent the frailty.