Sarcopenia Research Paper

“Declines in muscle mass and muscle strength are expected aspects of aging.”(1) Although each individual experiences loss in strength and muscle mass as they grow older, there are extreme amounts of variability from person to person. Sarcopenia is clinically defined as the loss of muscle strength (~30% to 50%) to the point that it impacts one’s ability to perform daily living tasks. Sarcopenia is associated with many health consequences such as obesity, osteoporosis as well as type II diabetes; but the pathophysiology of sarcopenia is extremely complex and not yet fully understood. If the etiology of Sarcopenia is discovered, it could not only be managed but also prevented. This review article examines the effects of resistance training and supplemental interventions on the maintenance of muscle mass/muscle strength during the aging process.
It’s well understood that short time periods of resistance training and nutrition supplementation (separately) have increased muscle mass and function in aging individuals; but the question still remains if these two interventions can be combined. Muscle outcomes were recorded from 17 studies, 15 of these studies examined muscle strength and physical performance, with the combination of an individual supplement (supplements included additional amino acids, protein-enriched drinks, doses of
creatine monohydrate, vitamin D and a multi-nutrient supplement). The separate mechanisms by which, exercise and nutritional supplementation have increased muscle mass and strength provide rationale that their combination would be extremely effective in preventing Sarcopenia. The main finding, after reviewing all 17 of these studies, is that the “enhanced benefits of exercise training, when combined with dietary supplementation, have been shown in some, but not all trials.” (1)
Out of the variety of different supplements combined with exercise, a protein-enriched drink and an essential amino acid supplement showed the greatest amount of promise in limiting the effects of Sarcopenia. Muscle strength improved with exercise training in all studies, but there was no added indication of an interaction between protein/amino acid supplementation and muscle strength except in one individualized study. Muscle strength improved in women who received both a multicomponent training regimen as well as amino acid supplementation. Muscle size varied between all of the studies. In five studies, no correlation was found between exercising training and protein/amino acid supplementation; however there was an increase in lean body mass following leucine supplementation when compared to the placebo group in one individual study.
The role of protein and amino acid supplementation in preventing the onset of Sarcopenia is extremely controversial.
“The institute of medicine recommends a daily dietary input of between (15%-35%) of protein, but the median protein intake is approximately 15%, which is well below the upper limit” (2) The amount of daily protein, particularly with the factor of aging, was not considered with developing these recommendations. The goal of my annotated bibliography is to research if an increased in the intake of protein (>35%) and essential amino acids in one’s diet, along with an exercise regimen can prevent the development of
Sarcopenia.