Sarcopenia the new geriatric giant: time to translate research findings into clinical practice

Geriatricians have long been aware of immobility and instability as geriatric giants, but we have perhaps been slower to recognise the importance of underlying changes in ageing skeletal muscle. This situation is however rapidly changing and sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function with age [1], is the focus of intense research activity and increasingly recognised in clinical practice. It is therefore timely to consider how the emerging research findings can be translated into the improved care of older people [2]. One of the landmark papers in the field was published by Cruz-Jentoft and colleagues in Age and Ageing in 2010. It describes the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) consensus guidelines on the definition and diagnosis of sarcopenia. These include initial identification of impaired physical function, characterised by slow gait speed, followed by ascertainment of either low muscle strength, assessed by handheld dynamometry, or low muscle mass measured by a range of methods [3].