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Fight Sarcopenia

sarcopenia-complications effect chart

Sarcopenia: the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function which occurs with advancing age. The loss of lean body mass can be debilitating and lead to clinical and functional complications.4-6

  • The risk of disability is 1.5 to 4.6 times higher in older adults with sarcopenia than older adults without sarcopenia. Those with sarcopenia are more likely to develop a disability like the inability to perform activities of daily living, such as eating.7
  • Sarcopenia cost the US healthcare system over $18 billion in 20007
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Identifying the signs of malnutrition and sarcopenia among older adults is critical.

Exercise, proper nutrition and other lifestyle changes can make a difference in patients.

1Pichard C, Kyle UG, Morabia A, Perrier A, Vermeulen B, Unger P. Nutritional assessment: lean body mass depletion at hospital admission is associated with an increased length of stay. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;79:613-618.

2Wolfe RR. The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84(3):475-482.

3von Haehling S et al. An overview of sarcopenia: facts and numbers on prevalence and clinical impact. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2010;1:129-33.

4Cruz-Jentoft AJ et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing. 2010;39:412-23.

5Litchford, Mary Demarest. Counteracting the Trajectory of Frailty and Sarcopenia in Older Adults. Nutrition in Clinical Practice. 2014;29(4)428-434

6Janssen I, Heymsfield SB, Ross R. Low relative skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) in older persons is associated with functional impairment and physical disability. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50:889–96.

7Janssen I, Shepard DS, Katzmarzyk PT, Roubenoff R. The Healthcare Costs of Sarcopenia in the United States. Journal of the American Geriatric Society. 2004;52:80-85.