Sarcopenia and the cardiometabolic syndrome: A narrative review

Abstract

Sarcopenia is a prevalent problem in the older population that is commonly considered for its well-known adverse functional associations. Cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome are also significant problems whose prevalence dramatically increase with age and remain the main cause of mortality in older adults. These two entities have recently been suggested to be inter-related and significant evidence has accumulated. In this article, we review the current evidence on this proposed association and the possible related pathophysiologic mechanisms. In summary, it seems that lower muscle mass is associated with higher cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) when adjusted for weight, but lower CMD when adjusted for height squared. Sarcopenic obesity - obesity and sarcopenia combined might be associated with a greater risk of CMD than sarcopenia and obesity alone. Sarcopenia and CMD seem to share a common pathway and interact with each other to facilitate mutual abnormalities. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.