Sarcopenia Lecture, Dr. Austin Baraki

YouTube Video

In this clinical talk, Dr Austin Baraki describes the common condition of Sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is an imbalance in muscle metabolism in the direction of catabolic processes. It is diagnosed by low muscle strength, quantity, and performance – in essence, ‘chronic muscle failure’. He makes the point that inactive adults lose 3-8% of their muscle mass per decade after the age of 30, and that there are over 23 studies correlating muscle strength with all-cause mortality. He discusses the need for variable amounts of dietary protein depending on age, level of activity, and health status. Counterintuitively, in older, inactive, chronically ill patients, more protein is needed due to a phenomenon known as anabolic resistance. A marker he looks for is low creatanine, which is common in conditions where there is muscle deterioration. Rapid loss of muscle mass is seen in the first 7-10 days of most critical illness – the more organ failure the more skeletal muscle mass loss. Interventions involve maximising anabolic factors like dietary protein intake and muscle contraction; while minimising inflammation, increasing blood flow and oxygen, and mitigating the effects of medications like glucocorticoids.

This resource is related to Course XIV: Our Crystalline Core. If you are interested in purchasing this course from our on-demand library of courses click here.

[Musculoskeletal System. Sarcopenia. Dr Austin Baraki.]