Sarcopenia

2021, Beatrice Gasperini, Stefano Volpato, Antonio Cherubini, Chapter 9: Acute Sarcopenia, Alfonso J. Cruz-Jentoft, John E. Morley (editors), Sarcopenia, John Wiley & Sons (Wiley Blackwell), 2nd Edition, page 96, The incidence of sarcopenia was investigated in the GLISTEN study. Sarcopenia at hospital admission was diagnosed in 227 (34.7%) patients.

Now, let me stop here to make a sort of plea. No decline with age is more dramatic or potentially more functionally significant than the decline in lean body mass. […] Think of the implication of this decrease in lean body mass in respect to the physical behavior of elderly subjects. There may be no single feature of age-related decline that could more dramatically affect ambulation, mobility, calorie intake, and overall nutrient intake and status, independence, breathing, etc. Why have we not given it more attention? Perhaps it needs a name derived from the Greek. I'll suggest a couple: sarcomalacia or sarcopenia. We might study more about the relationship between this decline and exercise; such studies are being done in some of the laboratories at our center. We know that elders can build and rebuild muscle mass. Even the frail elderly can recover function remarkably. I think this is am opportunity for some new attention that would pay off handsomely in maintaining the health and vigor that we described as a goal of our work.

Factors contributing to frailty include sarcopenia and decline in executive function.

When no evident cause of gradual-onset chronic sarcopenia is present in an older person, age-associated (primary) sarcopenia is diagnosed, and further examination of long-term habits that may have led to sarcopenia is appropriate.