Anabolic agents in frail elderly patients

Abstract

Use of the term frailty in the medical literature has increased significantly in the last 20 years. A MEDLINE search using the combined terms ‘frail’ and ‘elderly’ yielded 473 articles published between 1996 and 2001, compared with 85 between 1980 and 1985. This increasing interest in frailty has been fuelled by evidence that the ‘frail elderly’ are the group most likely to benefit from geriatric intervention programmes and by the close links between frailty and longer hospital stays, nursing home utilization and mortality.

The Effects of MK‐0677, an Oral Growth Hormone Secretagogue, in Patients with Hip Fracture

“…Reduced muscle mass and strength are phenomena seen in GH deficiency, in disuse, and in aging, 9–12 but GH replacement in older people has had incomplete success because strength effects have been inconstant, and there have been concerns about the effect of GH on other factors, such as glucose homeostasis 11–13 . A randomized, placebo‐controlled trial of human GH (hGH) in 111 older adults (aged 60) with hip fractures demonstrated a similarly equivocal result 14 .…”