Sarcopenia is associated with incident Alzheimer's dementia, m ild cognitive impairment, and cognitive decline
Open accessAbstract
Objective: We examined whether sarcopenia is associated with the occurrence of late‐life cognitive impairment. Methods: Nondemented older adults ( N = 1175) underwent annual testing with 17 cognitive tests summarized as a global cognitive score. A composite sarcopenia score was constructed based on muscle mass measured with bioelectrical impedance and muscle function based on grip strength. Cox proportional hazard models were employed to examine associations of sarcopenia with incident Alzheimer's dementia (AD) and incident m ild cognitive impairment ( MCI). Linear mixed‐effect models determined the association of sarcopenia with cognitive decline. All models controlled for age, sex, education, race, and height squared. Results: Average follow‐up was 5.6 years. More severe sarcopenia at baseline was associated with a higher risk of incident AD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.50 [95% confidence interval 1.20–1.86]; p < 0.001) and of MCI (1.21 [1.01–1.45]; 0.04) and a faster rate of cognitive decline (estimate = −0.013; p = 0.01). Analyses of the individual components of sarcopenia showed that muscle function was associated with incident AD, incident MCI, and cognitive decline with and without a term for lean muscle mass in the model. In contrast, lean muscle mass was not associated with incident cognitive impairment or cognitive decline when a term for muscle function was included in the model. Conclusions: Poor muscle function, but not reduced lean muscle mass, drives the association of sarcopenia with late‐life cognitive impairment. Further work is needed to identify features of muscle structure, which may increase the specificity of sarcopenia for identifying older adults at risk for late‐life cognitive impairment.
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Sarcopenia in elderly individuals is associated with a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease and faster cognitive decline.
“Studies have shown that sarcopenia in elderly individuals is associated with a greater risk of AD and faster cognitive decline.291”
From Antiageing strategy for neurodegenerative diseases: from mechanisms to clinical advances (2025) · cites this paper as [291]
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Sarcopenia and Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: Targeting the Muscle–Brain Axis
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- Authors
- Beeri, M. S., Leugrans, S. E., Delbono, O., Bennett, D. A., & Buchman, A. S.
- Affiliations
- Sheba Medical Center (IL)
- Rush University Medical Center (US)
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
- Corresponding author
- Beeri, Michal S.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-05-05
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1826-1835
- ISSN
- 0002-8614 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-5415
- PMC
- PMC8286176
- OpenAlex
- W3159332928
- Cited by
- 237
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 68 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 20.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Illinois Department of Public Health
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Frailty in Older Adults
- Keywords
- sarcopenia, Alzheimer's dementia, mild cognitive impairment, cognitive decline, muscle function, grip strength, lean muscle mass, older adults, late-life cognitive impairment, bioimpedance
- MeSH terms
- Cognitive Aging, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Female, Humans, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Incidence, Linear Models, Proportional Hazards Models, Electric Impedance, Muscle, Skeletal, Hand Strength, Sarcopenia, Cognitive Dysfunction
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