Anatomy - Falls in older adults Flashcards
What is sarcopenia?
Age-related loss of muscle mass and function
How is sarcopenia defined?
Skeletal muscle mass <2 standard deviations below mean of reference group
What changes occur to slow and fast-twitch muscle with ageing?
Slow-twitch = no change
Fast-twitch = 35% loss
What happens to cardiac output and mitochondrion with ageing?
Quality of both decreases
What are the 4 potential mechanisms that lead to sarcopenia?
- Insufficient protein intake
- Anabolic blunting
- Loss of motor function
- Glucose tolerance
What is anabolic resistance?
Reduced stimulation of synthesis of muscle protein with a given protein intake, leading to reduced muscle mass
What detemrines glucose tolerance?
Balance of insulin secretion and insulin action
How does glucose tolerance lead to sarcopenia in the elderly?
- Beta cell function declines with age
- Insulin secretion remains unchanged
- Insulin resistance occurs in the elderly
- Hyperinsulinaemia is reduced by maintaining physical fitness
What is the role of resistance exercise in sarcopenia?
- Partly reverses sarcopenia
- Increases muscle protein synthesis and satellite cell activation
- Restores muscle insulin sensitivity
- Increases muscle capillarisation and mitochondrial mass
- Reduces muscle fat mass
What other confounding variables can lead to sarcopenia, linked with ageing?
- Sense of taste and smell diminish
- Chewing problems
- Salivary glands shrink and less saliva secreted
- Digestive tract degenerates
- Food choices
- Muscle co-ordination
What changes occur to vision with ageing?
- Farsightedness
- Reduced blood flow - enlarged retinal blind spot - reduced field of vision
- Pupil size and dilation reduced - loss of focussing ability
- Weaker ciliary muscle - less flexible and more opaque lens
- Yellowing of lens
- Clouding of lens (cataracts)
What changes occur to hearing with ageing?
- Presbycusis (hearing loss)
- High frequency sound loss - impaired word discrimination
- Left ear more effected generally by hearing loss
- Tinnitus
What changes occur to touch with ageing?
- Less responsiveness to hot and cold
- Loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue - reduced thermal insulation
- Increased pain threshold - decreased pressure perception
- Danger from reduced ability to feel hot and cold
What changes occur to taste and smell with ageing?
- No change in detecting between sweet, salt, bitter and sour
- Impaired smell so reduced taste
- Reduced appetite
- Increased salt and sugar intake to imporve taste of food
- Risk of food poisoning
- Failure to notice changes in environment (i.e. gas leaks)
What changes occur to the brain with ageing?
- Brain volume decreases
- Slower synaptic speed
- Loss of synaptic plasticity
- Less efficient connections between brain regions
- Reaction time sharply increases after age 60