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Sarcopenia

Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging

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Definition

The word sarcopenia originates from the Greek words sarx (muscle) and -penia (loss). Sarcopenia is a progressive and generalized skeletal muscle disorder that is associated with increased likelihood of adverse outcomes including falls, fractures, physical disability, and mortality.

Overview

Sarcopenia increases risk of falls and fractures, impairs ability to perform activities of daily living, leads to mobility disorders and loss of independence, impairs quality of life, and increases need for long-term care placement and death. It increases risk for hospitalization and the cost. It is observed more prevalent by aging, but many other factors contribute and increase risk of developing sarcopenia involving systemic diseases especially organ failures, inflammatory conditions, physical inactivity, nutritional deficiencies, and unhealthy food choices. Hence, sarcopenia may be associated with many prevalent diseases such as cardiac/respiratory/renal diseases, malignancies, and...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical School, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gülistan Bahat & Tuğba Erdoğan

Authors
  1. Gülistan Bahat
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  2. Tuğba Erdoğan
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Correspondence to Gülistan Bahat .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Population Division, UN Dept of Economic Social Affairs Population Division, New York, NY, USA

    Danan Gu

  2. Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Matthew E. Dupre

Section Editor information

  1. Ageing Clinical Research, University Hospital of Cologne, Köln, Germany

    M. Cristina Polidori

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Bahat, G., Erdoğan, T. (2020). Sarcopenia. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_541-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_541-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69892-2

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Sarcopenia
    Published:
    11 May 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_541-3

  2. Sarcopenia
    Published:
    19 March 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_541-2

  3. Original

    Sarcopenia
    Published:
    23 June 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_541-1

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