What is sarcopenia?

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    Last Updated: October 25, 2023

    Sarcopenia is a progressive and generalized skeletal muscle disorder characterized by a loss of muscle mass and strength and is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes, including falls, bone fractures, postoperative complications, physical disability, and mortality.[1][2]

    There are two types of sarcopenia — primary and secondary. Sarcopenia is considered primary when it results from no other underlying cause except for age.[1] It is considered secondary when causal factors other than age are present, such as disease (e.g., cancer, advanced organ failure), malnutrition, or physical inactivity.

    References

    1. ^Alfonso J Cruz-Jentoft, Gülistan Bahat, Jürgen Bauer, Yves Boirie, Olivier Bruyère, Tommy Cederholm, Cyrus Cooper, Francesco Landi, Yves Rolland, Avan Aihie Sayer, Stéphane M Schneider, Cornel C Sieber, Eva Topinkova, Maurits Vandewoude, Marjolein Visser, Mauro Zamboni, Writing Group for the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2), and the Extended Group for EWGSOP2Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosisAge Ageing.(2019 Jan 1)
    2. ^Andrew D. Ardeljan, Razvan HurezeanuSarcopenia