Creatine and Age-Related Muscle Loss

Sarcopenia is a progressive and widespread skeletal muscle disorder that involves an accelerated loss of muscle mass and function associated with an increase in adverse outcomes such as falls, impaired physical function, frailty, and mortality [1-3]. Sarcopenia is an age-related process in older adults, affected not only by biological factors but also by lifestyle risks (e.g., sedentary lifestyle) that act throughout the course of life [1-3].

What are the causes, consequences and interventions?

Its causes are multifactorial [1-3], but in addition to biological and metabolic causes, this sarcopenia can be promoted due to muscle inactivity and disuse or to alteration in protein metabolism. On the other hand, certain pathologies such as cancer, neurological, liver and kidney diseases, metabolic or cardiorespiratory diseases can also trigger this sarcopenia. And, finally, this sarcopenia in the elderly can be aggravated by the drugs used in the above pathologies or by the hospitalizations common in this population.

On the other hand, the consequences include an increased risk of falls and therefore bone fractures, a decline in the person's physical and general function, an alteration in quality of life, and as a consequence an increased risk of all-cause mortality and higher economic costs at the health level [1-3].

Therefore, the main interventions for the prevention and management of sarcopenia should include physical-exercise programs, especially resistance training, to improve muscle function. In addition, it should also be addressed through nutrition to prevent and treat this sarcopenia, maintaining a sufficient protein intake and even using different supplements useful in these situations (e.g. creatine) [1-3].

Creatine as an ally in sarcopenia in the elderly

In this sense, in the fight against sarcopenia in the elderly, recommendations from sports nutrition have been extrapolated to pathological situations that affect skeletal muscle such as sarcopenia. Considering the use of certain supplements for the prevention and treatment of this sarcopenia, such as creatine.

Creatine is a substance made up of the amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine that is mainly found in muscles. In this sense, its supplementation is widely known in the sports world for the improvement of physical performance, especially in high-intensity exercises, strength exercises and for the enhancement of muscle mass gain. In addition, according to recent research, it could have notable cognitive benefits.

In this sense, a growing body of evidence suggests that creatine can be a useful strategy to prevent and treat situations of sarcopenia in the elderly [4]. Specifically, creatine supplementation could help maintain muscle mass, muscle strength and could therefore prevent the risk of adverse events in older adults such as falls [5].

In this sense, it should be noted that the benefits of creatine supplementation are greater when combined with strength exercise. That is, resistance training is essential to prevent and treat sarcopenia, therefore, if we combine it with creatine supplementation we could observe greater gains in muscle strength, functional capacity and muscle mass with the clinical benefits derived from these effects [4-7].

In this way, the protocols useful in the elderly can be extrapolated to the protocols used in athletes to improve performance: doses of 5 g with or without loading strategies (>20 g for 5-7 days) in a chronic manner [8].

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, aging triggers an irremediable loss of muscle mass and muscle function. However, different lifestyle strategies (e.g., strength training or nutrition), including creatine supplementation, may be useful for the prevention and treatment of this pathological condition.

10% DISCOUNT ON THE WEBSITE WITH THE CODE:

CROWN10

*Free shipping on orders over €25

AUTHOR

Dr. Lucas Jurado-Fasoli.
Dietitian-Nutritionist, Doctor in biomedicine, Professor of Physiology at the University of Granada.

References

1. Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., & Sayer, A. A. (2019). Sarcopenia. The Lancet, 393(10191), 2636-2646.
2. Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., Landi, F., Topinková, E., & Michel, J. P. (2010). Understanding sarcopenia as a geriatric syndrome. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, 13(1), 1-7.
3. Cruz-Jentoft, A. J., Bahat, G., Bauer, J., Boirie, Y., Bruyère, O., Cederholm, T., & Zamboni, M. (2019). Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age and ageing, 48(1), 16-31.
4. Candow, D. G., Chilibeck, P. D., Forbes, S. C., Fairman, C. M., Gualano, B., & Roschel, H. (2022). Creatine supplementation for older adults: Focus on sarcopenia, osteoporosis, frailty and Cachexia. Bone, 162, 116467.
5. Candow, D. G., Forbes, S. C., Chilibeck, P. D., Cornish, S. M., Antonio, J., & Kreider, R. B. (2019). Effectiveness of creatine supplementation on aging muscle and bone: focus on falls prevention and inflammation. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(4), 488.
6. Forbes, S. C., Candow, D. G., Krentz, J. R., Roberts, M. D., & Young, K. C. (2019). Changes in fat mass following creatine supplementation and resistance training in adults≥ 50 years of age: a meta-analysis. Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology, 4(3), 62.
7. Chilibeck PD, Kaviani M, Candow DG, Zello GA. Effect of creatine supplementation during resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscular strength in older adults: A meta-analysis. Open Access J Sports Med. 2017; 8:213-26.
8. Forbes, S. C., Candow, D. G., Ostojic, S. M., Roberts, M. D., & Chilibeck, P. D. (2021). Meta-analysis examining the importance of creatine ingestion strategies on lean tissue mass and strength in older adults. Nutrients, 13(6), 1912.