title: Sarcopenia: describing rather than defining a condition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traditional definitions of sarcopenia have described an aging-associated disorder roughly defined as muscle mass two standard deviations below the young adult demographic. In an effort to clear the ambiguity pertaining to such descriptions, two international bodies have put forth working definitions of sarcopenia, namely The Society of Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders in 2011, and The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People in 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper will look at the current zeitgeist of sarcopenia through a range of studies and will argue that what we have is an amalgamated and often conflicted description, rather than a definition, of the sarcopenic condition. Herein, we will consider whether such descriptions of sarcopenia should center on the consideration of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) rather than describing the condition more in terms of muscular pathology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Consideration was given to studies of the NMJ to advance the idea that present notions of the sarcopenic condition are incomplete and that at its' core, sarcopenia is an age-related disorder of the NMJ.
authors.affiliation: The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia, dalchin@student.unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: David Rhys
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Alchin
references.citation: FASEB J. 2002 Dec;16(14):1879-86
references.pmid: 12468452
references.citation: Muscle Nerve Suppl. 1997;5:S83-7
references.pmid: 9331392
references.citation: J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2014 Mar;5(1):1-3
references.pmid: 24595459
references.citation: J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2013 Jun;4(2):125-36
references.pmid: 23314905
references.citation: Muscle Nerve. 2002 Jan;25(1):17-25
references.pmid: 11754180
references.citation: Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2009 Jul;90(7):1237-40
references.pmid: 19577038
references.citation: Exp Gerontol. 2010 May;45(5):389-93
references.pmid: 20226849
references.citation: J Geriatr Phys Ther. 2009;32(2):83-9
references.pmid: 20039588
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Aug 17;107(33):14863-8
references.pmid: 20679195
references.citation: PLoS One. 2009;4(4):e5390
references.pmid: 19404401
references.citation: J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2011 Jul;12(6):403-9
references.pmid: 21640657
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Dec 1;106(48):20405-10
references.pmid: 19918075
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2007 Sep 10;92(1-2):129-35
references.pmid: 17585972
references.citation: J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2012 Dec;3(4):213-7
references.pmid: 23160774
references.citation: Age Ageing. 2010 Jul;39(4):412-23
references.pmid: 20392703
references.citation: J Orthop Res. 2009 Mar;27(3):385-93
references.pmid: 18853430
references.citation: J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2013 Sep;4(3):179-86
references.pmid: 23532635