Sarcopenia is defined by the loss of skeletal muscle mass and quality of strength with aging, and is associated with frailty in older adults.
Photo By Adam Jones Adam63 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsNot an actual disease, sarcopenia is part of the natural progression of aging. Healthy individuals, as they age, often have some degree of sarcopenia, however, there are ways to avoid severe progression of the condition, by way of diet, exercise, and other lifestyle choices.
A new study, very similar to another recent study on the effect of diet on frailty in older Spanish adults, looked at adherence to different diets on prevalence of sarcopenia in older Iranian adults.
300 Iranian adults aged 55 and older were randomly selected for this study, and were instructed to complete questionnaires related to dietary habits and patterns. Prevalence of sarcopenia was determined for each participant and compared to their responses on the dietary pattern questionnaires.
Systemic inflammation is known to be associated with several health problems and diseases, including various types of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancers. It is also known that a poor diet is also linked to these same diseases and more, raising the question of
Photo By Dimitrije Krstic (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commonswhether diet choice is associated with systemic inflammation, or if these markers for certain diseases are mutually exclusive.
A new research study from Lund University in Sweden focused on a group of 667 older adults between the ages of 63 and 68, to determine if diet quality was associated with the clinical signs of systemic inflammation.
At baseline, the participants answered questions related to socio-demographics. Additionally, height, weight, BMI, hip and waist circumferences, blood pressure, various blood sample measurements, and diet quality indices were collected and analyzed.
With an ever increasing number of obese adults in the west and throughout the westernized world, there is an associated increase in the numbers of adults (and children) with Type 2 diabetes. People are at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes related to lack of exercise, unhealthy dietary choices, and excess weight or obesity.
Often occurring in association with Type 2 diabetes though not
Photo By Sander van der Wel from Netherlands (Depressed Uploaded by russavia) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commonsexclusively is depression. Since the two diseases often occur together, a group of scientists recently aimed to examine whether or not diet, an important risk factor in developing Type 2 diabetes, had any effect on the prevalence of depression in patients with the disease.
4588 adults over the age of 18 were studied. Depression and diabetes statuses and usage of diabetes medications were determined via self-reported questionnaires. Fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels were also measured. Results were determined after controlling for the following factors: gender, age, marital status, education, race, “food insecurity level”, family income-to-poverty ratio, and serum C-reactive protein.
Diet types were categorizes by: healthy (i.e. Mediterranean-like diets), unhealthy (i.e. western diets), sweets, “Mexican-style”, and breakfast.
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