What also astonished the two researchers was the dichotomy between their physical complaints and their psychological fears about their state of health. “Despite the difficulty they had climbing stairs, feelings of breathless, etc., these individuals had the overall impression of being in good cognitive health and did not complain about pain, etc.”, adds Charlotte Beaudart.

Less astonishing was the weak physical activity of sarcopenic individuals; thanks to their physical weakness they were at greater risk of falling.

Physical activity at all ages!

This particularly fine observation of the sarcopenic individual could help to identify those who should benefit from a programme of prevention. Prevention of falls, certainly, but also active prevention by using the only means currently at our disposal: physical activity for everyone, in particular during old age. This could help individuals to remain autonomous for longer and delay or even avoid going to a nursing home!

On the other hand there is no medicine on pharmacy shelves to treat sarcopenia although some molecules are currently being developed. For this reason, it is not useful at the present time to focus on systematic screening because no answers can be provided as yet. “It is now important to educate elderly people to practise physical activity regularly and ideally, to practise resistance activities as well. With regard to nutrition, it also seems possible to take preventative measures by optimizing protein intake”, insists Charlotte Beaudart.

And the future?

The authors of this study would like to extend the parameters of this study to biochemical markers: “These could help us to observe the degradation of muscle, inflammation, kidney function, bone status… which could give us interesting complementary information”, explains Professor Bruyère. “To this end, we have frozen serum and plasma from all the individuals in our group”.

The SarcoPhAge study is planned to last for at least five years. Funding is guaranteed for the first three years of follow-up via the FNRS mandate granted to Charlotte Beaudart. But the following years as well as more in-depth studies must also secure funding because the longer this study lasts, the more it will monitor elderly individuals and the more authoritative it will become on the subject of sarcopenia. Securing funding is the crux of the matter!

The good news is that a spin-off has been created from the design of the SarQoL questionnaire relative to the quality of life of elderly people; it could then be marketed by private companies seeking to perfect a treatment for sarcopenia.