After the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the weight suddenly dropped sharply and became thinner, and the grip strength and walking speed of the hands were significantly worsened. Be careful, it may be “post-coronavirus sarcopenia”! A nutritionist reminds you to pay attention to the 5 signs of sarcopenia, and to take in 2 macronutrients, as well as a 1-minute self-examination, which can detect sarcopenia as soon as possible and prevent the deterioration of sarcopenia.
It is estimated that more than 3 million people in Taiwan have “post-coronavirus sarcopenia”
According to a systematic literature review published by the journal Frontiers in Nutrition in July 2022, the probability of developing Sarcopenia after the diagnosis of new coronary pneumonia is about 48%. In terms of ten thousand people, it is estimated that more than 3 million people may have “post-coronavirus sarcopenia”.
Sarcopenia can cause many adverse consequences. Sarcopenia not only affects the reduction of muscle mass and muscle function, but also causes physical weakness and inconvenience in the elderly in the future, and increases the risk of falls, cognitive dysfunction and other disability problems. Seriously or even cause death. In particular, as the elderly grow older, there will be more or less muscle loss. If sarcopenia worsens, it will be a big thing to accidentally fall down. Not only the elderly will recover very hard, but the younger generation who takes care of them at home will also burn a lot of candles!
If the elders in the family have “bird feet” and “chopstick legs”, they may have small cardiomyopathy!
How do you know if you have sarcopenia? Nutritionist Yang Tingyi said that if the elders in the family have “bird feet” and “chopstick legs”, they may have a small cardiomyopathy! Let’s first understand the 5 common symptoms of sarcopenia:
[5 common symptoms of sarcopenia]:
1. Insufficiency of upper limb muscle strength:
Mainly due to decreased grip strength, for example, can’t open cans, towels can’t be wringed dry, etc. There are also heavy objects that cannot be lifted, which can cause troubles in life.
2. Difficulty walking:
The muscle strength of the thigh is obviously insufficient, and even the walking speed is less than 1 meter per second, which is a major warning sign of sarcopenia.
3. Behavioral Inconvenience:
In addition to moving slowly, it is very difficult to get up from a chair or bed on a daily basis, and must rely on others to help or support armrests to get up.
4. Weight loss:
If you do not deliberately lose weight, but you lose weight for unknown reasons, especially if you lose more than 5% of your weight in half a year, you should pay special attention.
5. Repeated falls:
Even walking on flat ground can lead to falls. If you fall more than 4 times in a year, it means that the risk of developing sarcopenia is high.
Quickly detect sarcopenia risk in 1 minute!
The hands are wrapped around the calf, and if there is room for the hands to circle, it means that the risk of sarcopenia is high. If it is just circled, or it is a little bit laborious, the risk of sarcopenia is low, please continue to maintain it.
To prevent sarcopenia, we must start from delaying muscle loss. Dietitian Yang Tingyi said that in addition to exercise, proper nutritional supplementation can achieve twice the result with half the effort to prevent sarcopenia.
Lack of vitamin D has also been linked to sarcopenia!
Principle 1: Increase protein intake
It is recommended that the elderly can increase their protein intake to 1.5g/kg/d, or they can use their hands as a scale, and they must eat a palm-sized amount of protein for each meal to be considered qualified!
In addition, you can supplement rich in leucine, such as meat, soy products (tofu, soy milk), fresh milk, etc. Leucine has been found to increase muscle synthesis and improve mobility in older adults.
Principle 2: Vitamin D should be replenished
A lack of vitamin D has also been linked to sarcopenia! In a subtropical-tropical country, the sun is “at your fingertips”, and you don’t need to spend money to buy supplements. You can get a full amount of vitamin D in the sun for 20-30 minutes a day.
Occasionally, however, there will be days with continuous rainy days and no sunlight. At this time, you can also supplement it with sun-dried mushrooms, eggs, and vitamin D-fortified milk.