Determinants of muscular and functional vitality in oldest old people

Abstract

An intriguing question with regard to ageing research is why some people age successfully and why others are burdened with chronic diseases and functional disability. Researchers aim to identify the candidate determinants associated with the preservation of vitality during a long life course. In this thesis the study of candidate determinants of muscular and functional vitality in a cohort of oldest old (85+) participants is described. The first part of this thesis focuses on the functional phenotype with handgrip strength, gait speed and functional ability as the parameters of this functional phenotype. The second part of this thesis focuses on candidate determinants of muscle weakness in oldest old people, such as blood pressure, insulin like growth factor-1, and cytokine production capacity. The results of the studies in this thesis allow us to speculate about the predictive value of functional measurements as markers of vitality in a clinical population of oldest old patients. Use of these markers of vitality could contribute to increased vigilance in clinicians for increased risk of health problems in their very old patients. Furthermore, these vitality markers could be helpful in individual prognostication and decision making in very old patients who are faced with serious illnesses.