Old Age and Sarcopenia

When we see a lean & frail structure with spectacles on the nose, trembling voice, without teeth, walking slowly (with the fear to fall down), carrying a bag full of medicines... we pass by him/her saying it is "old-age gift".

Can you imagine yourself in that state???

The answer to this question is, "We can't think of it" or "we don't have the time to think about it". This is true, in our hectic daily schedule; we do not get time to think about ourselves.

All of us were born one day, enjoyed our childhood, entered the phase of adolescence following adulthood and have to fall in the lap of old age.

Now, the challenge before us is to prevent physiological ageing getting converted into pathological ageing with chronic diseases.

Sarcopenia (pronounced sarko-peen-ya) is a fairly new term, although the phenomenon has been recognized for many years. It is not something related to anemia... It is age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function. It is a serious degenerative condition that increases ones risks for falls and makes one more vulnerable to injury.

As most of us age, we lose our skeletal muscle mass; this seems to occur even if we continue to eat adequately. Women face a greater risk than men, because women have less muscle than men, and those who have less muscle to begin with, generally have a greater loss.

Although sarcopenia is mostly seen in physically inactive individuals, it is also evident in individuals who remain physically active throughout their lives. This suggests that physical inactivity is not the only contributing factor to sarcopenia.

Oh!!!! so, what is the cause of this problem? How can we prevent ourselves?

Development of sarcopenia is a multifactorial process. It occurs due to changes in

endocrine system(hormones),

oxidative stress,

loss of neuromuscular function,

inadequate nutrition,

change in protein metabolism,

lifestyle factors etc.

Sarcopenia is accelerated with a lack of physical activity, especially the lack of overload to the muscle, as in resistance exercise. The amount of physical activity generally declines with age. Physically inactive adults will see a faster and greater loss of muscle mass than physically active adults.

However, sarcopenia is not completely prevented by exercise, as it is also evident, but to a lesser degree, in physically active individuals.

Resistance training (RT) has been shown to be a powerful intervention in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. Strength training may be defined as exercise in which the muscles are challenged to generate progressively increasing force over time.

An additional factor in the development of sarcopenia may be an inadequate energy intake. Many older individuals may not be taking in enough calories and/or protein to sustain their muscle mass. Inadequate protein and amino acid intake can severely disrupt the protein synthesis necessary to maintain protein balance and muscle mass.

At the present time, progressive resistance training with adequate supply of nutrition is the best intervention to slow down or reverse the age-related decline in muscle mass or strength.

Do not panic... have Adequate Nutrition and get up to Start Exercising.