Abstract
Aging is characterized by the progressive decline of muscle mass and function, the so-called sarcopenia. Also bone loss is widespread among older people. Sarcopenia and osteopenia/osteoporosis are associated with several adverse outcomes including falls, risk of fractures, functional decline, frailty, and mortality. Recently, the life-course approach to prevent or delay functional decline has become very popular. Regarding musculoskeletal health, there is suggestive evidence that acting during critical or sensitive periods of life in which each person build-up its biological reserves may influence the rate of functional decline in the later stages of life. A life-course approach to musculoskeletal health should take place during early life when plasticity allows more easily the attainment of the peak of the musculoskeletal system driven by environmental stimuli. The rate of the subsequent decline will depend on the peak previously reached. Nutrition and physical exercise are important environmental factors that can influence musculoskeletal development by favoring and maintaining peak bone and muscle mass and strength. Here we provide an overview of body composition changes occurring across the lifespan and strategies based on nutrition and physical exercise to support musculoskeletal health as well as minimizing losses during older life.
Highlights
People are living longer but only a few years are still lived without disability [1]
Nutrition and physical exercise remain a mainstay of prevention and intervention for both sarcopenia and osteoporosis, as they are for many other conditions
Several drugs exist for the treatment of osteoporosis, they should only be reserved for selected individuals
Summary
People are living longer but only a few years are still lived without disability [1]. This review article is intended to close the gaps between the two specialties by providing an overview of changes in body composition occurring during the lifetime with a special focus on specific nutrition and physical activity intervention strategies throughout the lifetime, aimed at preventing and delaying the functional decline in musculoskeletal system seen with the aging process Both muscle and bone are highly malleable tissues responding to the environment during the life-course. They noted that techniques they used at the middle-age assessment may not be able to adequately capture the loss of muscle mass They found that the period of bed rest at baseline had a more profound impact on cardiovascular capacity than what was observed at the 30-years of follow-up, with physical inactivity accounting for a greater extent to the decline in aerobic power, the effect was confounded by the marked increase in body fat. Exercise training results in a reduced mortality risk, decreasing the number of falls and fall-associated injuries and improving physical function [132]
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