Sarcopenia and its relationship with bone mineral density in middle-aged and elderly European men

Summary The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between reduced muscle mass (sarcopenia) and areal bone mineral density (BMD a ) in middle-aged and elderly community-dwelling European men. Men with sarcopenia had significantly lower BMD a and were more likely to have osteoporosis compared with men without sarcopenia. Introduction In men, the relationship between reduced muscle mass (sarcopenia) and BMD a is unclear. This study aimed to determine this relationship in middle-aged and elderly community-dwelling men. Methods Men aged 40–79 years from the Manchester (UK) and Leuven (Belgium) cohorts of the European Male Ageing Study were invited to attend for assessment including dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, from which appendicular lean mass (aLM), fat mass (FM) and whole-body, spine and hip BMD a were determined. Relative appendicular skeletal muscle mass (RASM) was calculated as aLM/height². Muscle strength was assessed in subjects from Leuven. Sarcopenia was defined by RASM at