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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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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