Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia is defined when someone is so malnourished and has started to lose significant muscle mass, leading to complications such as falls and non healing wound.

How do I know whether I or my family member is at risk of developing sarcopenia?

The simplest way will be to ask the following questions:
1. Are they more than 70 years old?
2. Were they hospitalised more than once in the last 1 year?
3. Are they able to walk independently more than 1000 m?
4. Have they lost more than 2 kg weight in the last 1 year?
5. Do they eat 3 meals regularly everyday without skipping?
6. Do they eat poultry, meat, fish, eggs, ham at least once per day?

If the answers for the first four questions are "yes" and the last two questions are "no", then the risk of sarcopenia and malnutrition is very high.



Source:
1. Peterson SJ, Mozer M (February 2017). "Differentiating Sarcopenia and Cachexia Among Patients With Cancer". Nutrition in Clinical Practice. 32 (1): 30–39.
2. Ata AM, Kara M, Kaymak B, Özçakar L (October 2020). "Sarcopenia Is Not "Love": You Have to Look Where You Lost it!". American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 99 (10): e119–e120.
3. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F, et al. (July 2010). "Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People". Age and Ageing. 39 (4): 412–423.
4. A P Rossi 1, R Micciolo, S Rubele, F Fantin, C Caliari, E Zoico, G Mazzali, E Ferrari, S Volpato, M Zamboni. "Assessing the Risk of Sarcopenia in the Elderly: The Mini Sarcopenia Risk Assessment (MSRA) Questionnaire". Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging 2017;21(6):743-749.