Osteosarcopenia

[Michael Scally MD]

Osteosarcopenia: Bone, Muscle and Fat Interactions, Editors: Duque, Gustavo (Ed.).
Osteosarcopenia: Bone, Muscle and Fat Interactions | Gustavo Duque | Springer

This edited work presents the most current evidence on osteosarcopenia from bench to bedside, which is expected to facilitate the understanding of this syndrome and to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies.

With our aging population, chronic diseases such as osteoporosis and sarcopenia are becoming highly prevalent. Fortunately, our understanding of the bone and muscle interactions has increased in recent years. This has allowed to the coining of the term osteosarcopenia to describe a syndrome in which these two diseases overlap. This overlap between osteoporosis and sarcopenia has major negative effects not only on our older adults but also on health systems worldwide.

Readers will find a highly translational approach that starts with a summary of recent discoveries on stem cells biology, muscle and bone interactions – including the role of local bone and muscle fat – followed by comprehensive reviews on myokines (i.e. myostatin), osteokines (i.e. osteocalcin) and adipokines (i.e. interleukins) as major players and determinants of bone and muscle loss with aging.

In addition, the role of sex steroids (i.e. estrogens, androgens), and calciotropic hormones (i.e. parathyroid hormone, vitamin D) in the pathogenesis of this syndrome is also reviewed.

Moreover, using practical diagnostic and therapeutic tips, this book summarizes the clinical characteristics of osteosarcopenic patients thus facilitating the diagnosis and treatment of this syndrome in clinical practice.

Finally, the book presents the case for the Falls and Fractures Clinic as the optimal model of care for this syndrome, aimed to avoid fragmentation and optimize osteosarcopenia care, and simultaneously prevent falls and fractures in older persons.

This book offers relevant information on the mechanisms of osteosarcopenia, and a practical guide on how to identify and treat this geriatric syndrome and its adverse outcomes, which are dramatically affecting our aging population.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

[OA] Osteosarcopenia: A Case of Geroscience

Many older persons lose their mobility and independence due to multiple diseases occurring simultaneously. Geroscience is aimed at developing innovative approaches to better identify relationships among the biological processes of aging.

Osteoporosis and sarcopenia are two of the most prevalent chronic diseases in older people, with both conditions sharing overlapping risk factors and pathogenesis. When occurring together, these diseases form a geriatric syndrome termed “osteosarcopenia,” which increases the risk of frailty, hospitalizations, and death.

Findings from basic and clinical sciences aiming to understand osteosarcopenia have provided evidence of this syndrome as a case of geroscience. Genetic, endocrine, and mechanical stimuli, in addition to fat infiltration, sedentarism, and nutritional deficiencies, affect muscle and bone homeostasis to characterize this syndrome.

However, research is in its infancy regarding accurate diagnostic markers and effective treatments with dual effects on muscle and bone. To date, resistance exercise remains the most promising strategy to increase muscle and bone mass, while sufficient quantities of protein, vitamin D, calcium, and creatine may preserve these tissues with aging.

More recent findings, from rodent models, suggest treating ectopic fat in muscle and bone marrow as a possible avenue to curb osteosarcopenia, although this needs testing in human clinical trials.

Kirk B, Al Saedi A, Duque G. Osteosarcopenia: A case of geroscience. AGING MEDICINE 2019;2:147-56. Error - Cookies Turned Off

 

[Michael Scally MD]

[OA] Aging Mechanisms and Interventions That Impact Senior Health

It is with distinct pleasure to introduce this September issue of Aging Medicine as a special issue dedicated to the International Geroscience Symposium entitled “Aging Mechanisms and Interventions that Impact Senior Health” held on May 24‐25, 2019 in Shenzhen, China. Error - Cookies Turned Off

The Symposium was the first in a series of seven international geroscience conferences bringing together researchers from around the world to advance the revolutionary approach to healthy aging known as geroscience. It was held in conjunction with the 2019 annual scientific meeting of Chinese Medical Association Geriatrics Branch and China National Center of Geriatrics and Gerontology. The Symposium provided a truly unique and important international platform for promoting geroscience and brainstorming on its further development in China, the country with the world's largest aging population.

Aging itself alone, by far, is the greatest risk factor for almost all chronic conditions including frailty and disability in older adults. Geroscience aims to gain in‐depth understanding of biology and mechanisms of with the hypothesis that therapeutically addressing aging and its mechanisms directly will simultaneously prevent the onset or mitigate the severity of multiple chronic diseases (Figure 11). This is innovative and much more efficient that the traditional approach of addressing one disease at a time. …

Leng SX, Liu B, Kennedy BK. Aging mechanisms and interventions that impact senior health: Introduction to a special issue on Geroscience. AGING MEDICINE 2019;2:126-9. Error - Cookies Turned Off