Rapid weight loss in the elderly may cause sarcopenia and shorten life expectancy

Due to the decline of physiological metabolic function, the elderly often suffer from obesity and chronic diseases. But are they suitable for the same rapid weight loss method as young people? Doctors say that if elderly people over 65 years old lose weight quickly, the fat-reducing effect will be limited, but it will accelerate muscle loss and cause "sarcopenia", which leads to a greater risk of death than chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases.

If the elderly do not lose weight properly, not only will they fail to effectively reduce body fat, but they may even lead to the sequelae of "sarcopenia" and increase the risk of death. Doctors remind the elderly that exercise should focus on training muscles and sense of balance, and should not be aimed at losing weight and burning fat.

Elderly people who are slightly overweight and lose weight quickly are more likely to suffer from sarcopenia

Chen Lianggong, director of the Geriatric Medicine Center at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said that most people believe that obesity is closely related to cardiovascular disease, but studies have found that chronic diseases that require a long period of accumulation to occur, such as cardiovascular disease, have a greater impact on the health of middle-aged obese patients; on the other hand, for people over 65 years old, the risk of death caused by sarcopenia caused by improper weight loss, or diseases such as pneumonia infection and fractures is higher than that of chronic diseases due to the faster progression of the disease.

If you want to live longer, Dr. Chen Lianggong recommends that elderly people with a BMI between 23 and 25 and a slightly plump body should not deliberately lose weight. The elderly have a slow metabolism. If they lose weight quickly in an unhealthy way, not only will the weight loss and fat burning effects be limited, but they may also lose muscle protein due to improper weight loss.

It causes loss of muscle tissue and reduced supporting power of thigh muscles, leading to sarcopenia, aggravating symptoms of degenerative arthritis, and increasing the risk of osteoporosis, falls, fractures and death.

The reason why thin people have shorter lifespans than fat people may not be due to sarcopenia

However, Xu Yawen, attending physician of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Department of Health's Shuang Ho Hospital, said that sarcopenia and obesity should be examined as two separate diseases. Sarcopenia is a disease caused by muscle loss; but being obese means having more or less body fat. BMI alone is not sufficient evidence to show that weight loss increases the risk of sarcopenia.

Although foreign studies on nursing homes for the elderly have found that elderly people with a BMI below 20 have a shorter life expectancy than obese elderly patients, the cause of death is not necessarily sarcopenia. Dr. Xu Yawen said that clinically it has been found that thin people do not live longer than fat people, and this often happens in cancer and dialysis patients.

Exercise is more important for older people to increase muscle than to lose fat

Dr. Xu Yawen said that obese elderly people still need to exercise moderately if they want to live longer. However, the purpose of exercise at this time, increasing muscle mass, promoting mobility, and training sense of balance are far more important than fat burning. This means that when elderly people do weight loss exercises, they should avoid choosing inappropriate exercise methods in order to quickly reduce fat, which will accelerate the loss of muscle protein and lead to sarcopenia.

Suitable exercises for older people include:

1. Resistance type: The movement requires muscles to use force to resist resistance, avoid muscle relaxation, and increase lean meat mass, such as weightlifting, elastic band pulling exercises, etc.

2. Endurance type: For those who need to exercise for more than 10 minutes, they can train muscle endurance and cardiopulmonary function, such as brisk walking, cycling, etc.

3. Postural balance type: training whole-body balance, such as Tai Chi.