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Sarcopenia

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

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Synonyms

Anabolic resistance; Disuse atrophy; Skeletal muscle atrophy

Definition

Sarcopenia is a syndrome characterized by a progressive generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength with a risk of adverse outcomes such as physical disability, poor quality of life, and death. Sarcopenia is derived from Greek “sarx” for flesh and “penia” for loss.

Description

The global population aged 60 years or older is expected to more than double from 901 million in the year 2015 to 2.1 billion by 2050 (www.un.org). A common result of the aging process is the loss of skeletal muscle mass. This is associated with metabolic disease such as type 2 diabetes (Park et al. 2009), impaired physical performance (e.g., walking and rising from a chair), self-reported disability (Janssen et al. 2002), and the increased risk of accidental falls (Szulc et al. 2005) and fractures (Fiatarone Singh et al. 2009). Hip fractures are among the most common site of fracture in elderly individuals (Johnell and...

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References and Further Readings

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, LS1 3HB, Leeds, UK

    Oliver J. Wilson

  2. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, L3 3AF, Liverpool, UK

    Anton J. M. Wagenmakers

Authors
  1. Oliver J. Wilson
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  2. Anton J. M. Wagenmakers
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oliver J. Wilson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Marc Gellman

  2. Campbell University School of Pharmacy, Buies Creek, North Carolina, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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Wilson, O.J., Wagenmakers, A.J.M. (2016). Sarcopenia. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_490-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_490-2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

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