Sarcopenia: why it matters in general practice.

Abstract

Rosenberg introduced the term sarcopenia in the late 1980s from the Greek words ‘sarx’ (flesh) and ‘penia’ (lack/poverty) to describe an important change in body composition and function; a decline in lean body mass.1 Questions arising at the time included whether this was a disease or part of the normal ageing process, or when it was that this decline reached a critical point to be considered a disease. In the last two decades there has been a growing research interest in this field, and sarcopenia was recognised as a disease in the 10th Edition of the International Classification of Diseases in 2016. Yet, a diagnosis of sarcopenia is very rarely made or documented in medical records; despite being a clinical entity, it is not acknowledged as one that deserves attention in general practice. This article aims to approach the topic of sarcopenia based on published guidelines and debate about its importance and challenges from a primary care perspective.