This paper introduces a frailty index as a measure of health status in elderly individuals, defined as the proportion of accumulated deficits (symptoms, signs, functional impairments, and laboratory abnormalities). The index reflects the severity of illness and proximity to death. Using data from a representative sample of elderly Canadians, the study found that deficits accumulate at a rate of 3% per year and follow a gamma distribution, typical for systems with redundant components. The index is insensitive to the individual nature of deficits and serves as a significant prognostic factor for life expectancy. The study also shows that the frailty index is a robust measure, not sensitive to the choice of specific deficits. It is used to predict mortality and is associated with different statistical distributions in well and morbid groups. The frailty index is proposed as a proxy measure of aging, reflecting general properties of aging at the organism level rather than specific functional deficiencies. The study demonstrates that the accumulation of deficits increases with age and is a significant predictor of survival. The frailty index is also used to estimate life expectancy and is associated with different statistical distributions in successful aging and senescence. The study concludes that the frailty index can be used as a proxy measure of aging and mortality, reflecting general properties of aging rather than specific functional deficiencies.This paper introduces a frailty index as a measure of health status in elderly individuals, defined as the proportion of accumulated deficits (symptoms, signs, functional impairments, and laboratory abnormalities). The index reflects the severity of illness and proximity to death. Using data from a representative sample of elderly Canadians, the study found that deficits accumulate at a rate of 3% per year and follow a gamma distribution, typical for systems with redundant components. The index is insensitive to the individual nature of deficits and serves as a significant prognostic factor for life expectancy. The study also shows that the frailty index is a robust measure, not sensitive to the choice of specific deficits. It is used to predict mortality and is associated with different statistical distributions in well and morbid groups. The frailty index is proposed as a proxy measure of aging, reflecting general properties of aging at the organism level rather than specific functional deficiencies. The study demonstrates that the accumulation of deficits increases with age and is a significant predictor of survival. The frailty index is also used to estimate life expectancy and is associated with different statistical distributions in successful aging and senescence. The study concludes that the frailty index can be used as a proxy measure of aging and mortality, reflecting general properties of aging rather than specific functional deficiencies.