Esther Clift

By Harnish P Patel, Esther Clift, Lucy Lewis and Cyrus Cooper

Sarcopenia and frailty are common in older persons and pose particular challenges for health and social care systems especially in the context of global population ageing. Sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength and function with age is associated with adverse individual physical and metabolic changes contributing to morbidity and mortality. The health and socioeconomic implications of sarcopenia are also considerable. Sarcopenia is a core component of physical frailty that together impact negatively on an individual’s capability to live independently. Frailty is a biological syndrome of low reserve and resistance to stressors resulting from cumulative declines across multiple physiological systems that collectively predispose an individual to adverse outcomes. Frailty develops along a continuum from independence through to death as physiological reserves progressively diminish an individual’s capacity to recover from an acute insult or illness. Managing sarcopenia and frailty involves the multidisciplinary led completion of a comprehensive care plan that is patient centred, responsive to the needs of the patient and adaptable therefore enabling an individual to maintain their independence.

Part of the book: Frailty and Sarcopenia