Reducing the Burden of Age-related Disease in relation to Osteoporosis, Sarcopenia and Osteosarcopenia

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Background

Osteoporosis is a common disease worldwide, resulting in nearly 9 million bone fractures globally per year. The number of people living with osteoporosis is set to dramatically increase in the coming decades, because of aging populations and lifestyle changes. Developing countries suffer more from osteoporosis due to limited availability of resources.
Osteoporotic fractures are one of the most prevalent causes of disability and 1/3 women and 1/5 men >50 years will experience an osteoporotic fracture. Worldwide, 40% of osteoporotic fractures occur in people of working age. In women over 45 years of age, osteoporosis accounts for more days of hospitalization than diabetes, heart attacks or breast cancer. Fractures are also directly responsible for a 30% increase in mortality in the first year after the incidence. While the underlying cause of fragility fracture is osteoporosis, and a previous fracture increases the risk of the following fracture by nearly twofold in men and women, only 9%–50% of patients with fragility fractures have formal bone health assessment and treatments. According to a systematic review, bone density scans were ordered only for 1 to 32% of adults who experience a fragility fracture. Furthermore, post-hip fracture mortality rates vary between 25-30% in western countries, and 2-3 folds higher in populations from the Middle East and Africa region.
Sarcopenia is a syndrome defined by loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength that gradually progresses by age and it is severely correlated with poor quality of life, dependency, and mortality. Documents showed that loss of muscle mass is associated with a higher duration of hospitalization and costs. The direct health care cost attributed to sarcopenia in U.S.A was estimated at $18.5 billion for the year 2000 (~ 1.5% of the total healthcare expenditure). The progressive loss in bone mineral density, muscle mass and strength are significant features of the aging process and the economic burden seems to significantly increase by the worldwide population aging.
Osteosarcopenia, defined by the presence of sarcopenia and bone loss, can lead to higher clinical outcomes such as falls and fractures, while the information regarding this progressively increased geriatric syndrome is scarce.
Despite the preventable nature of osteoporosis, sarcopenia and osteosarcopenia, and related complications, loss of accurate information on the distribution of related risk factors leftovers a major concern for policymakers in some countries and expanding appropriate interventions should be prioritized. To do this, a precise depiction of the situation, determine the related risk factors in details, providing acceptable strategies for prevention and treatment are required.

The number of people living with dependency is set to dramatically increase in the coming decades due to aging populations and lifestyle changes. Musculoskeletal disorders are amongst the most impactful ailments that result in the inability to live independently. The forthcoming growth in the number of people living with dependency will place significantly greater demands on our systems of care. Despite much research for slowing the decline and prevention of related complications, lack of accurate information on the risk factors pose a major roadblock for policymakers in some countries as implementation of appropriate interventions needs to be prioritized. For these reasons, precise diagnosis of these disabilities, their underlying risk factors and proven strategies for prevention and treatment need definition.

This Research Topic welcomes submissions ranging from Original, Clinical, and Translational articles and Reviews in the field of aging. Topics of interest include epidemiological characteristics and economic evaluation, pharmacological and nonpharmacological clinical features and treatment on:
• Diagnosis, prevention, treatment and management of osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases, fall and fracture in older adults
• Sarcopenia, mechanisms of muscle wasting, better screening and evaluation of sarcopenia. Particularly focus on sarcopenia and obesity at older age.
• Physical frailty and age-related body composition modifications understanding the subclinical pathophysiological mechanisms at the basis of frailty and aging

Keywords: Osteoporosis, Sarcopenia, Osteosarcopenia, Aging, Physical frailty, Bone health, Muscle, Burden

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