[Preventing frailty and maintaining good health during aging]

Frailty is an established clinical syndrome that occurs more frequently with increasing age, but also often contributes to irreversible functional loss in younger adults. Its multidimensional, complex pathophysiology and phenotypic nature is associated with atypical disease presentation and underdiagnosis in clinical routine. The latter still utilizes, especially in nongeriatric settings, medical technologies that are often unable to capture and measure frailty. In addition, frailty progresses per se rather imperceptibly until its late stages, when it is too close to the point of no return and difficult to treat efficiently. Therefore, prevention of frailty is key in the context demographic change, characterized by socioeconomically unsustainable rates of multimorbidity and disability. In the framework of the present special issue, this contribution aims at highlighting relevance, potential, and methodology of frailty prevention for the maintenance of function and vitality during life.