[이데일리 이순용 기자] If you visit your hometown during the holidays and spend a long time with your parents, you will find that you are walking slower than before, or having difficulty in daily life such as lifting things, eating, bathing, and cleaning. It is a phenomenon caused by muscle loss that occurs naturally with age, but it should not be taken lightly. In sarcopenia, the risk of falls and fractures increases, and it is difficult to maintain functions of daily living because of decreased muscle strength and decreased physical function, leading to other complications.
It is defined as a disease by the World Health Organization (WHO) because the mortality rate is up to twice that of people without sarcopenia. As a new concept, such as ‘well-aging’, which leads to healthy aging in a super-aged society, is attracting attention, for a healthy 100-year-old, the definition of sarcopenia, which is increasing in prevalence, causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention methods, Kyung Hee University We asked Professor So Yun-su of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the school hospital.
Q. What is sarcopenia?
A. Sarcopenia is a compound word of the Greek words sarco meaning muscle and penia meaning decrease. It is a disease characterized mainly by a decrease in muscle mass that occurs with aging, as well as a decrease in muscle strength or a decrease in physical exercise ability.
Q. Is sarcopenia a disease?
A. The disease is right. The World Health Organization officially registered the disease code (M62.84) in the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases in 2016. have. In a Korean geriatric cohort study of 70-84 year-old community residents nationwide, 21.3% of men and 13.8% of women were diagnosed with sarcopenia.
Q. What is the cause?
A. The biggest cause of sarcopenia is aging caused by aging. Other factors include fractures due to osteoporosis, stroke, and neurological diseases such as dementia, internal medical diseases such as diabetes and chronic kidney disease, and cancer diseases. For example, in the case of diabetes, the blood sugar level is high and the blood does not pass through the microvessels well, so the peripheral muscles or nerves are not properly nutritious, making it difficult to build muscle. In the case of arthritis, the prevalence of sarcopenia increases because movement is difficult due to pain.
Q. How is sarcopenia diagnosed?
A. Self-test is possible as the primary diagnosis of sarcopenia. If the calf circumference is less than 34 cm for men and 33 cm for women, and if the Sarcopenia Self-diagnosis Questionnaire (SARC-F) score is 4 or higher, it is recommended to visit a hospital and undergo an examination. The hospital diagnoses sarcopenia following evaluating both the quantity and quality of the muscles by measuring the amount of skeletal muscle, the grip strength, and the motor function of the body. The amount of skeletal muscle is measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), which is used to measure bone density, and InBody (BIA), a bioelectrical impedance measurement method. When measured by DXA, it is less than 7.0 kg/m2 for men and 5.4 kg/m2 for women, and when measured by BIA, it is less than 7.0 kg/m2 for men and 5.7 kg/m2 for women. Gait speed is evaluated to diagnose sarcopenia.
Q. What is the treatment?
A. The most representative treatment and prevention method is exercise. Since there is no treatment for sarcopenia yet, proper management for prevention is important. Among the many exercises, the core is strength-strengthening exercises. It should be performed at least twice a week, and it is recommended to start with a low intensity (40-50% of the maximum weight that can be lifted at one time, 40-50% of 1RM) and increase the intensity every 2-3 weeks. Because strength training is important, not only strength training, but also aerobic training, strength training (resistance training), flexibility training (stretching), and balance training should be combined. The most important thing is to exercise regularly for at least 3 months to get the effect of muscle strength increase or hypertrophy.
Q. What kind of exercise can the elderly who have difficulty exercising do?
A. We recommend band exercises with relatively low difficulty. An elastic band exercise that quickly pulls and releases the band quickly for 12 weeks for an elderly person aged 65 or older, who does not exercise regularly, improved his grip strength by up to 49% and the ability to perform simple movements such as walking by 33%. However, this exercise also consists of 12 reps per set, 3 sets each, 3 times a week or more to be effective. In addition, through wall squats, where squats are performed leaning once morest a wall, even those who have difficulty squatting can do lower extremity exercises.
Q. How to prevent sarcopenia other than exercise?
A. The basis of nutritional supplementation therapy for preventing muscle loss and for muscle growth is proper protein intake. The lower the daily protein intake, the higher the prevalence of sarcopenia. To prevent muscle loss, you should consume at least 1.2 to 1.4 g of protein per kg per day and 1.6 g of protein per kg for muscle growth. There is a limit to the amount of protein that the human body can use for muscle, so it is most important to eat an appropriate amount three times a day rather than eating it all at once.
Q. What is the protein intake for elderly people who are burdened with meat?
A. We recommend black beans, a plant protein, for those who feel uncomfortable eating meat because their teeth and digestive ability weaken as they get older. Black soybeans have more than twice the protein content than beef and have a higher intestinal absorption rate. Even if it is not black soybeans, there is little difference in protein depending on the type of soybean, so you can consume it according to your preference. In addition, it is good to supplement it with protein powder or drinks such as soy milk or yogurt with a high protein content.