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Ronenn Roubenoff, MD,MHS; Carmen Castaneda, MD,PhD

JAMA. 2001;286:1230-1231.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Sarcopenia is not a disease but rather refers specifically to the universal, involuntary decline in lean body mass that occurs with age, primarily due to the loss of skeletal muscle.¹ Sarcopenia has important consequences. The loss of lean body mass reduces function, and loss of approximately 40% of lean body mass is fatal.^2-5 Sarcopenia is distinct from wasting—involuntary weight loss due to inadequate intake, which is seen in starvation, advanced cancer, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Sarcopenia also differs from cachexia, a cytokine-driven loss of lean body mass that occurs despite maintenance of weight, which is seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, congestive heart failure, or renal failure.⁶ However, sarcopenia is the backdrop against which the drama of disease is played out: a body already depleted of protein because of aging is less able to withstand the protein catabolism that comes with acute illness or . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliation: Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, and Sarcopenia Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Mass.

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