Sarcopenia definition, diagnosis and treatment: consensus is growing

TLDR

Sarcopenia is a skeletal muscle disorder that rises with age and chronic conditions, is linked to mobility loss, morbidity, and mortality, and has shifted from a focus on muscle mass loss to loss of muscle function—particularly strength—under international consensus such as the 2019 EWGSOP revision. The study urges the newly formed Global Leadership Initiative on Sarcopenia to establish international consensus on definition and diagnosis. Future progress will involve routine health data use, prescription of resistance exercise, translational biology and epidemiology into first‑in‑human trials, and a heightened focus on sarcopenia in low‑ and middle‑income countries.

Abstract

Abstract Sarcopenia is a skeletal muscle disorder that commonly occurs with advancing age as well as with a number of long-term conditions. Recognition in clinical practice is relatively recent but important because of the association between sarcopenia and a range of adverse effects on health including impaired mobility, increased morbidity and mortality. Originally characterised as loss of muscle mass, the definition has evolved to focus on loss of skeletal muscle function, particularly strength, through a number of international definitions such as that of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People most recently revised in 2019. Progress in the decades ahead is likely to be seen with regard to use of routine health data, prescription of resistance exercise, translation of biology and epidemiology into first in man studies for new treatments, and focus on sarcopenia in low and middle-income countries. Immediate next steps include the newly formed Global Leadership Initiative on Sarcopenia to develop international consensus on definition and diagnosis.