Obesity in the sarcopenia era
Abstract
With the coining of the term “sarcopenia,” lean body mass has been a major focus of aging research for the past 25 years. The motivating idea is that weakness, a hallmark of physical disability, is determined by skeletal muscle mass. Therefore, a logical strategy to prevent disability would be to slow or reverse age-related decreases in muscle mass (1). However, evidence shows that the situation is more nuanced than originally expected. In community-dwelling older adults, the linkage between lean mass and strength is not especially strong, and some interventions that are effective in increasing lean mass do not appear to affect strength (2,3). Furthermore, intentional weight loss in obese older adults does not necessarily reduce muscle strength, despite significant reductions in muscle mass (4). In contrast to what might be predicted by the sarcopenia hypothesis, there have been five moderate to large clinical trials showing that weight loss improves physical performance and that this effect is additive to the benefits of exercise (5–9). Furthermore, the degree of functional improvement is correlated with the extent of adipose tissue loss (10). The benefits of physical activity seem to be blunted in obese older adults (11), and high levels of adiposity accelerate aging-related loss of lean mass (12). Concerns that intentional weight loss might predispose overweight or obese older persons to a higher mortality risk appear unwarranted (13).
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Cross-sectionally, adiposity and obesity-related measures are more strongly related to mobility in community-dwelling older adults than measures of muscle mass.
“Cross-sectionally, adiposity and obesity-related measures are more strongly related to mobility in community dwelling older adults than measures of muscle mass (Kritchevsky, 2014).”
From Myosteatosis in the Context of Skeletal Muscle Function Deficit: An Interdisciplinary Workshop at the National Institute on Aging (2020) · cites this paper as Kritchevsky, 2014
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“in communitydwelling older adults, the linkage between lean mass and strength is not especially strong, and some interventions that are effective in increasing lean mass do not appear to affect strength (2,3).”
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- Authors
- Kritchevsky, S. B.
- Affiliations
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kritchevsky, S. B.
- ORCID
- Kritchevsky, S. B.
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2013-11-27
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 61-62
- ISSN
- 1079-5006 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-535X
- OpenAlex
- W2104568183
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 1.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series A (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Frailty in Older Adults
- Keywords
- obesity, sarcopenia, lean body mass, muscle strength, older adults, weight loss, physical performance, adipose tissue loss, physical activity, disability prevention, aging
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Disability Evaluation, Humans, Obesity, Body Mass Index, Incidence, Sarcopenia
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