Signs of frailty, and the risks it brings, could be identified in young and old people alike through a new assessment developed in a study by researchers at the Universities of Strathclyde, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Yale.

Increasing risk of frailty is a defining characteristic of the ageing process but it has no precise clinical definition and there are currently no analytical techniques that can accurately quantify its status.

Furthermore, little is known about the underlying biological mechanisms of frailty but the new research has revealed a set of blood biomarkers that can predict its extent. Further down the line it could potentially achieve this with people as young as in their 20s or 30s.

The assessment could also determine whether a patient would be able to withstand intensive courses of treatment, such as chemotherapy, as well as helping to understand, prevent, cure or minimise age-related impairments.

The research has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Dr Nicholas Rattray, a Chancellor’s Fellow with Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, led the study. He said: “Being able to measure the frailty status of a person is currently a very subjective clinical assessment and is ultimately causing a delay in the personalisation of therapeutic options for frail patients.

“By using cutting-edge analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry based metabolomics, this research has opened the door to developing ways to rapidly and accurately quantify frailty and apply this knowledge directly within the clinical environment.

“We believe this assessment is the first of its kind. It could lead to a far deeper understanding of the ageing process and how to potentially develop intervention strategies for ageing poorly.”

Professor Roy Goodacre from the University of Liverpool said: “I am excited by this work as this shows that large-scale metabolomics has for the first time shown clear biochemical changes in people with frailty which may with future work lead to therapy to help revert these individuals back to a resilient phenotype which will improve quality of life.”