This article presents an overview of the increasingly common condition of frailty, which by and large lacks clarity of definition. A variety of sources provide this statement regarding definition, incidence, causation, rate, and time of appearance. Utilizing the newly elaborated process of symmorphosis, which explains the coadaptation of structure and function secondary to altered energy loads, I propose that frailty is a body-wide set of linked deteriorations including, but not confined to, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immunologic systems. The common final pathway that leads to this constellation of findings is usually keyed to a decline in physical activity either as a result of habit or disease inputs. As such, the state of frailty is largely separable from the process of aging and should thereby be susceptible to active intervention and reversal.

The program led to meaningful physical activity increases. Individually tailored programs to encourage lifestyle changes in seniors may be effective and applicable to health care and community settings.

A BST RA CT The oxidation and turnover of plasma glycerol has been studied in lean and obese, fed and starving man by means of a long-term infusion of glycerol-"4C, and the participation of glycerol in gluconeogenesis has been determined.Under none of the experimental conditions did glycerol contribute more than 10% of the total respiratory C02. Glycerol turnover in fed lean subjects was 106 mmoles/min. Glycerol levels and turnover were higher in the obese subjects and with all subjects after starvation. There was a direct correlation between plasma levels and turnover values for which a regression equation was derived: y = 1556 x + 33.1, when y= turnover in micromoles per minute and x = glycerol level in micromoles per milliliter.Whereas a. direct relation was established between glycerol and FFA levels, the FFA/glycerol turnover ratio was 4.7: 1 in the lean group indicating incomplete hydrolysis of adipose tissue triglycerides.

Our association study suggests that, of the set of 249 factors in NHANES, physical activity, smoking, serum lycopene and serum/urinary cadmium are associated with all-cause mortality as identified in previous studies and after controlling for multiple hypotheses and validation in an independent survey. Whereas other NHANES factors may be associated with mortality, they may require larger cohorts with longer time of follow-up to detect. It is possible to use a systematic association study to prioritize risk factors for further investigation.

Highly trained, middle-aged endurance runners demonstrated a significantly greater dilating capacity of their epicardial coronary arteries in response to nitroglycerin compared with inactive men. The causes of this greater dilating capacity and its clinical significance need to be determined.