Sarcopenia: Is It Preventable?

Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength with a risk of adverse outcomes. As befits an age-related trait, the process of sarcopenia is universal with age. Indeed most human physiologic systems regress with ageing, independently of substantial disease effects, at an average linear loss of 0.34-1.28% per year between the age of 30 and 70 [2]. Therefore, sarcopenia can be considered as the effect of ageing on muscle mass in every human being. This is true even for athletes who, although they continue to be physically active and perform at levels well above those of sedentary adults, demonstrate a decline in lean tissue with age [3]. Next to the intrinsic, age-related processes, a multitude of extrinsic and behavioral factors can aggravate the development and/or progression of sarcopenia; such as disuse and lack of physical activity, malnutrition, chronic inflammation and (co-)morbidity. The relative contribution of these factors can show important variability from person to person and, therefore, there is a huge variation in the loss of muscle mass and muscle strength between individuals. Some older people have a muscle mass that is comparable to that of younger adults,whereas other older adults have amusclemass that is so lowthat it compromises their functional abilities. Sarcopenia, thus, can be thought of as both a process and an outcome.