Is it worth a fortune to stay slim in old age? Even if you are thin, you must have muscles and bones!

As the saying goes, "It's worth a fortune to be thin in old age." Is it true that the thinner the better for the elderly? Luo Tianjiong, a Chinese medicine doctor and professor and director of the geriatric department of Nanjing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, said that some elderly people of the same age can run, dance, and climb mountains even if they do not have other chronic diseases, while some elderly people have weak limbs, walk slowly, fall easily, and even need someone to take care of them. This completely different performance is likely caused by the rapid and silent loss of muscle, which is the so-called sarcopenia.

Luo Tianjiong introduced that sarcopenia is a disease with age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass, muscle strength and/or physical fitness as the main clinical features, which will significantly affect the quality of life and self-care ability of elderly patients. Therefore, sarcopenia is not just a small trouble in life, but a "stumbling block" hidden on the road to health and longevity. It will bring the following hazards:

First, there are external behavioral harms, such as osteoporosis, frailty, falls, increased risk of disability, and mortality;

Secondly, there are the hazards of internal diseases. The reduction of swallowing-related muscles in sarcopenia may lead to dysphagia, causing choking and coughing, thereby increasing the risk of respiratory complications in patients. Sarcopenia patients spend more time in bed and have an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis in the lower limbs. Studies have shown that sarcopenia is closely related to the prognosis of various cancers, including cardiovascular diseases and gastric cancer.

Many young people often evaluate their physical condition in the gym, such as cardiopulmonary function tests, body fat percentage measurements, BMI calculations, etc. In fact, the elderly's athletic ability, functional status, skeletal muscle mass, and muscle strength can also be accurately evaluated. It can help doctors determine the stage of sarcopenia, which is very important in clinical treatment. It is understood that the Department of Geriatrics of Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has a complete evaluation system for sarcopenia, which includes the following:

Muscle mass: Use a body composition meter to measure the skeletal muscle mass ASM of the limbs, calculate the body mass index (BMI), and determine the calf circumference; Muscle strength: Use a grip strength test, mainly based on hand grip strength; Muscle function: A variety of measurement methods can be used, mainly including the SARC-CalF scale, 6m walking speed, and 5 starts.

Luo Tianjiong said that if you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. Only by adding professional testing equipment can you make accurate judgments about diseases. She hopes to help the elderly establish the awareness of cherishing and maintaining muscles, and actively conduct relevant assessments of muscle status to achieve early prevention, early detection, early diagnosis, and early treatment.