Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by a gradual loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, with risk of adverse outcomes such as physical disability, poor quality of life and increased mortality. Its prevalence begins to increase in those over 65 years of age and becomes more pronounced in those over 80 years of age.
Causes of sarcopenia
It usually has a multimodal cause, i.e. several causes interact at the same time. Prolonged bed rest, sedentary lifestyle, insufficient protein synthesis (due to poor diet, malabsorption, digestive disorders), chronic organic diseases (heart failure, respiratory failure, liver disease, neurological diseases, etc.), neoplasms, inflammatory diseases or the use of drugs that promote anorexia are among the factors predisposing to sarcopenia.
Prevention of sarcopenia
Sarcopenia is partly preventable. A healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet and endurance exercise (weight lifting, brisk walking, cycling, etc.) several times a week help to maintain and even build muscle mass.
In terms of diet, an adequate intake of proteins (1-1.3 g/kg/day), vitamin D and other antioxidants such as selenium, vitamin E and polyunsaturated fatty acids (oily fish) is essential to have a quality muscle mass capable of responding to the functional needs of the patient.
It is advisable to avoid smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Absolute rest (an old paradigm of popular medicine) and very restrictive diets should also be avoided as far as possible.
Treatment of sarcopenia
Once sarcopenia is established, there is no “standard” treatment to ensure recovery. Treatment should be individualized. For this reason, once the diagnosis has been made, it is advisable to consult an expert in aging who will study the case and propose solutions.
The first step will be to adequately treat the patient’s underlying disease(s) and look for how he/she has lost strength and/or muscle mass. Another important aspect is the study of the functional level (strength, mobility, physical capacity, response to effort, gait, balance), together with the cognitive and nutritional assessment (muscle mass, body fat).
From this study we can elaborate a therapeutic plan that includes all the areas studied, the correction of the deficit and that allows us to evaluate it periodically.