Sarcopenia: an overview.
Sarcopenia, the age-dependent loss of muscle mass and function, is a common condition among older adults, and is associated with several adverse health outcomes. Owing to the impact of sarcopenia on quality of life, disability and mortality, a greater awareness is necessary in order to correctly identify the condition both in community and geriatric settings. Research on sarcopenia prevention and treatment is developing quickly, but many questions are still unanswered. The core of the sarcopenia condition involves quantitative and qualitative losses of skeletal muscle. These two dimensions should therefore be considered when designing and testing preventive and therapeutic interventions. The recently released operationalization of sarcopenia by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Sarcopenia Project allows for the framing of an objective, standardized, and clinically relevant condition, which should facilitate its translation into the clinical arena as well as its adoption by public health and regulatory agencies. Such a conceptualization might eventually encourage key stakeholders to combine their efforts in approaching the sarcopenia condition. Bearing these considerations in mind, the "Sarcopenia and Physical fRailty IN older people: multi-componenT Treatment strategies" project has operationalized a specific condition, named physical frailty and sarcopenia (PF&S), characterized by the combination of low physical performance (based on the Short Physical Performance Battery) and low muscle mass (according to the FNIH cut-points). A randomized controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a multi-component intervention for preventing mobility disability and other adverse health outcomes in older adults with PF&S.
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy. emarzetti@live.com.
Emanuele
E
Marzetti
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Riccardo
R
Calvani
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Matteo
M
Tosato
Gérontopôle, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.|Université de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
Matteo
M
Cesari
Research Unit of Medicine of Aging, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.|Division of Geriatric Cardiology and Medicine, Department of Geriatrics and Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy.
Mauro
M
Di Bari
Geriatrics and Geriatric Emergency Care, IRCCS-INRCA, Ancona, Italy.
Antonio
A
Cherubini
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Agnese
A
Collamati
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Emanuela
E
D'Angelo
Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Marco
M
Pahor
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Roberto
R
Bernabei
Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopedics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart School of Medicine, Rome, Italy. francesco.landi@rm.unicatt.it.
Francesco
F
Landi
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*
Disability; Muscle mass; Muscle strength; Physical function; Prevention; Treatment