Sarcopenia and frailty in neurology

Abstract

Sarcopenia and frailty are common geriatric syndromes and are associated with adverse health outcome and impaired health-related quality of life. Co-occurrences of these two syndromes with age-related neurological diseases are potentially high but not well investigated. Moreover, it is not well understood how these syndromes interact with neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and stroke. This article introduces the currently most accepted concepts of sarcopenia and frailty, discusses the potential relevance of the syndromes for geriatric patients and presents examples of studies that investigated potential interactions between these geriatric and neurological syndromes and conditions. First results indicate that (i) the co-occurrence of these geriatric syndromes and age-related neurological diseases is high, (ii) sarcopenia and frailty can influence the clinical state of neurological diseases to a relevant extent and (iii) at least some common causes and pathophysiological processes confer the geriatric and neurological conditions. In conclusion, profound knowledge about the interaction of sarcopenia, frailty and age-associated neurological conditions is currently not available. Such knowledge would have an enormous potential for improved therapy of these neurological conditions.