Dr. Fried: Advocate for Aging Healthy Survivors

Epidemiologist and geriatrician Dr. Linda P. Fried uses the science of aging to promote the art of caring for the aged.

Learning about her efforts inspires me to persevere with my personal mission: Helping others through the synergy of science and caring.

In a NYTimes article titled "Unafraid of Aging" that profiles Fried's work, journalist Karen Pennar highlights aspects of this work that dovetail with the ongoing discussion on this blog about Healthy Survivorship.

For example, Fried believes solutions to public health problems in the 21st century depend on research that looks at aging and health changes not only in the elderly, but also throughout life. More specifically, Fried...

• Embraces the complexity of aging, with its many negative and positive feedback loops.
• Defines frailty, pre-frailty and frailty syndrome.
• Offers a simple frailty assessment tool that she developed.
• Encourages collaborative work among researchers who promote competing assessment tools.
• Strives to lead ethically and effectively, believing "no human life should be wasted."

The last two bullets nourish my hope that researchers and clinicians can -- and will -- collaborate on behalf of patients. The more we shine the spotlight on dedicated scientists like Fried, the faster our society will make progress. So I hope you can find time to read "Unafraid of Aging."

In my next column, I'll highlight one more characteristic of Fried's work that makes me hopeful that the promise of Healthy Survivorship can be fulfilled in the future, maybe even in my lifetime.

Comments

[Jan Baird Hasak]

Thanks for highlighting this work. It's so important to all of us, as we will eventually face these issues unless we die prematurely.