Body Composition And Aging

Increased adiposity and decreased muscle mass contribute substantially to age-dependent disease and disability. In particular age-related increase in adiposity is quickly becoming a major threat to public health throughout the world. Although the hypothesis that age-related changes in body composition are due to lifestyle choices alone is well accepted, it is a vast oversimplification. This volume reflects the current knowledge in this rapidly developing field of research. The first part of the book discusses the extent to which increased adiposity contributes to age-related diseases and longevity. The 'obesity paradox', describing the protective role of overweight in decreasing mortality while increasing pathology, is covered in depth. Further chapters address specific aspects of the regulation of energy balance during aging, including the effects of changes in food intake. Finally the causes and consequences of loss of muscle mass and age-related osteoporosis are examined. A valuable help for physicians treating elderly patients, this book will also be of great interest to researchers studying energy balance, muscle physiology, bone disease, and other aspects of aging.

Man has always been curious about himself, a curiosity that began centuries ago with an examination of the soul, and that extended in the period of the Renaissance to his anatomy and certain functions such as the circulation of the blood. Chemical science entered the scene in the 18th century, and burst into prominence in the 19th century. As the various chemical elements were discovered, many were found to be present in body fluids and tissues. Organic compounds were recognized; it became known that body heat was produced by the combustion of food; chemical transformations such as the production of fat from carbohydrate were recognized; and in the 1850s it was determined that young animals differed from adults in certain aspects of body composition. As methods for chemical analysis evolved, they were applied to samples of body fluids and tissues, and it became apparent that life depended on chemical normality; and most importantly it was realized that given the necessary amount of food and water the body had the ability to maintain a degree of constancy of what Claude Bernard called the milieu interieur, in other words its interior chemical en vironment.

Cachexia may well represent the flip side of the tremendous achievements of modern medicine. The aim of this volume, written by world-renowned scientists, is to provide the best available evidence on the pathogenesis, clinical features and therapeutic approach of cachexia, and to facilitate the understanding of the complex yet unequivocal clinical role of this syndrome, that truly represents a disease, or, more likely, a disease within other different diseases.

This book will explain to you why muscles are essential to good health and how to maximize your skeletal muscle health through exercise, diet, and appropriate nutritional supplements. The goal is to help you focus much more on your body composition and functional abilities rather than just your body weight. Unfortunately, people, including many health professionals often regard age-related muscle loss as a problem of the elderly. It's not. This book is to help anyone over the age of forty years understand the fundamental importance of their skeletal muscle to their overall wellbeing and successful aging. I often call the forties the forgotten years, where people fully occupied with multiple commitments can often lose sight of their health. Rest assured, the principles in this book apply to people of any age! By applying the recommendations in this book, you will be stronger, healthier, and wiser.

This open access book aims to primarily support nurses as leaders and champions of multimodal, Interdisciplinary nutrition care for older adults. A structured approach to fundamentals of nutrition care across Interdisciplinary settings is combined with additional short chapters about special topics in geriatric nutrition. The book is designed to provide highly accessible information on evidence-based management and care for older adults, with a focus on practical guidance and advice across acute, rehabilitation, and primary and secondary malnutrition prevention settings.The cost of malnutrition in England alone has been estimated to be £19.6 billion per year, or more than 15% of the total public expenditure on health and social care. ^65 years). The importance and benefit of specialised nutrition care, delivered by experts in field, is well established for those with complex nutrition care needs. However, despite the substantial adverse impact of malnutrition on patient and healthcare outcomes, specialised management of this condition is often under-resourced, overlooked and under-prioritised by both older adults and their treating teams. As an alternative, timely, efficient, and effective supportive nutrition care opportunities may be appropriately implemented by nurses and non-specialist Interdisciplinary healthcare team members, working together with nutrition specialists and the older adults they care for. Practical, low-risk opportunities should be considered across nutrition screening, assessment, intervention, and monitoring domains for many patients with, or at risk of malnutrition. Whilst a variety of team members may contribute to supportive nutrition care, the nursing profession provide a clear focal point. Nurses across diverse settings provide the backbone for Interdisciplinary teamwork and essential patient care. The nursing profession should consequently be considered best placed to administer Interdisciplinary, multimodal nutrition care, wherever specialist nutrition care referrals are unlikely to add value or are simply not available. As such, the book is a valuable resource for all healthcare providers dedicated to working with older patients to improve nutrition care. .

The 2nd edition of Human Body Composition includes updated information and new chapters. The editors and 35 contributors are well respected researchers in the field of body composition science. This is one of few texts that provides comprehensive coverage of body composition research. The primary intent is to present current information on research methods. This book can serve as a textbook for those who are students or new researchers. Descriptions of various methods and background information are imparted in great detail with numerous references. New chapters address energy expenditure, animal body composition, molecular genetics and body composition as it relates to disease states of cancer, HIV, obesity and certain inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This book is recommended for students and new researchers in the field of body composition research who need to learn various methods, histories and practical applications--Publisher's description.

The primary purpose of fitness and body composition standards in the U.S. Armed Forces has always been to select individuals best suited to the physical demands of military service, based on the assumption that proper body weight and composition supports good health, physical fitness, and appropriate military appearance. The current epidemic of overweight and obesity in the United States affects the military services. The pool of available recruits is reduced because of failure to meet body composition standards for entry into the services and a high percentage of individuals exceeding military weight-for-height standards at the time of entry into the service leave the military before completing their term of enlistment. To aid in developing strategies for prevention and remediation of overweight in military personnel, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command requested the Committee on Military Nutrition Research to review the scientific evidence for: factors that influence body weight, optimal components of a weight loss and weight maintenance program, and the role of gender, age, and ethnicity in weight management.