Deteriorating muscles are a natural part of the aging process, but for some individuals with a condition called sarcopenia the decrease is unusually quick. A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden recommends that the early phases of sarcopenia could be counteracted with timely interventions created to preserve physical and cognitive function and handle persistent conditions. The results are published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.
As we age, we start to lose muscle mass and function. When this decline is more substantial or quick than anticipated, it is classified as sarcopenia, a common condition in the elderly that frequently reduces their quality of life and increases the risk of falls and bone fractures.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now examined how various factors such as sex, age, educational level, living plan, way of life, and chronic conditions impacted the advancement of sarcopenia in people aged 60 or over across a 12-year duration. The research study included over 3,200 individuals from the SNAC-K (Swedish National Study on Ageing and Care in Kungsholmen) study.
At the start of the research study, almost 10 percent of the individuals had sarcopenia, 27 percent had possible sarcopenia, and just over 63 percent had no sarcopenia. Metrics such as grip strength, walking speed, speed of rising from a chair five times, and calf circumference were used to evaluate muscle strength and mass and physical performance.
” Perhaps the most interesting outcome was that after five years, an approximately equal percentage (just over 10 percent) of the individuals with likely sarcopenia improved either had or degraded. This recommends that sarcopenia is a dynamic condition that is flexible particularly in the initial stages, which is a confident message,” states the studys matching author Caterina Trevisan, affiliated researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.
Factors that could be related to an increased opportunity of enhancement and lower mortality were physical activity and higher results on cognitive tests, while a greater number of chronic conditions, male sex and older age had the opposite correlation. For people at first identified with severe sarcopenia, the likelihood of enhancement was low, and a lot of them passed away during the follow-up duration (almost 71 percent).
” Our outcomes support the requirement of early interventions to maintain physical and cognitive functions and handle persistent conditions in older individuals,” says the studys last author Anna-Karin Welmer, senior lecturer at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet. “With these tools, we might probably counteract muscle deterioration and the problems in quality of life this entails. We now require intervention research studies to find methods to use these tools to combat sarcopenia.”
Reference: “Twelve-Year Sarcopenia Trajectories in Older Adults: Results from a Population-Based Study” by Caterina Trevisan, Davide Liborio Vetrano, Riccardo Calvani, Anna Picca and Anna-Karin Welmer, 30 November 2021, Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.DOI: 10.1002/ jcsm.12875.
The study was funded through the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the Swedish Research Council and Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte).
Damaging muscles are a natural part of the aging procedure, but for some individuals with a condition called sarcopenia the decline is abnormally quick. A brand-new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden recommends that the early phases of sarcopenia might be counteracted with prompt interventions developed to preserve cognitive and physical function and manage persistent conditions. We now need intervention studies to find methods to use these tools to neutralize sarcopenia.”