Research Project:
Healthy Aging, Geriatrics and Sarcopenia
Brief Summary: This ILSI project will identify nutrient requirement changes with age, as well as valid and reliable screening and assessment tools for geriatric-related conditions and diseases, such as sarcopenia. ILSI with analyze its findings, along with the recommendations from existing authoritative bodies on the prevention, screening, diagnosis, progression, and treatment of sarcopenia across global regions. Presented by Roger Fielding.
Rationale and Approach: The World Health Organization defines healthy aging as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age (1). That is “dying young as old as possible”. Predictions suggest that by 2050, one in four persons in Europe and in Northern America could be aged 65 or over, and that this portion of the population may double in Asia and Latin America (2). There is little evidence available for determining the nutrient requirements of individuals over the age of 85 and to develop evidence-based recommendations for them. Sarcopenia, the age-associated loss of muscle mass and function, is an unrecognized syndrome of advancing age that is characterized by progressive, generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength with the risk of adverse outcomes such as physical disability, poor quality of life and death (3).
Objectives:
- Identify nutrient requirement changes with age
- Identify valid and reliable screening and assessment tools for geriatric-related conditions and diseases
- Compare and contrast recommendations of existing authoritative bodies on the prevention, screening, diagnosis, progression, and treatment of sarcopenia
- Work with the ILSI federation to determine needs of other regions
Deliverables:
- Relevant gaps in aging literature on age-related nutrient requirement changes, and valid and reliable screening and assessment tools for frailty, sarcopenia and other geriatric-related conditions and diseases
- Strong ties between scientists and health professionals working on screening and assessment of these conditions in the USA, but also in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, andTaiwan
- Literature reviews and interactions with other authoritative groups to develop best practices documentation for prevention, screening, diagnosis, progression and treatment of sarcopenia
- Meaningful network expansion with other ILSI branches, in particular those dealing with similar concerns
References:
- World Health Organization. (2015). World report on ageing and health. World Health Organization.
- United Nations. (2019). Department of Economic and Social Affairs. World Population Prospects 2019: highlights.
- Cruz-Jentoft, A.J., et al. (2019) Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age and Ageing 48: 16-31.