Sarcopenia is the progressive loss of skeletal muscle that comes with aging.
AIM Coalition Meeting Spotlights Sarcopenia Research Advances
Published December 2, 2016
FDA, Science, Industry, Advocacy Experts Collaborate on Strategies to Improve Treatment for Condition
Bethesda, Md., December 2, 2016 – The Aging in Motion (AIM) Coalition hosted its second annual meeting with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) leaders and leading scientists, industry representatives, and advocates to discuss developments and advances in clinical research and treatment of sarcopenia in Bethesda, Md.
The meeting offered an important forum for updating stakeholders on the latest efforts to improve the clinical detection of sarcopenia and to bridge knowledge from initiatives underway in the public and private sectors to identify appropriate measures for use as endpoints in clinical trials.
“Since our first meeting, a number of exciting developments have occurred related to sarcopenia, chief among them being an ICD-10-CM designation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” notes Cynthia Bens, AIM executive director. “This meeting gave all stakeholders an opportunity to discuss the latest research advances as well as the avenues that still need to be explored to develop successful treatments for sarcopenia. Currently, there are no drugs approved for the treatment of this condition.”
The meeting featured the following expert presentations:
– A Biomarker Consortium Sarcopenia 2 Project
Thomas Travison, Ph.D., Institute for Aging Research
– Adaptation of the PROMIS Performance Battery for Sarcopenia
Zeeshan Butt, Ph.D., Northwestern University
– Progress on Qualification of Performance-Based Measures for Sarcopenia
Jack Guralnik, Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H., University of Maryland School of Medicine
The meeting also featured a panel of experts who considered the topic of “scientific and regulatory considerations for developing meaningful treatments for sarcopenia.”
The AIM Coalition will communicate more information about the meeting on its website in the coming weeks. Please visit aginginmotion.org for more updates. You can also follow its Twitter feed: @aginginmotion.
About the AIM Coalition
The Aging in Motion (AIM) Coalition is a diverse group of patient, caregiver, health, and aging groups working together to press for greater levels of research and innovation to develop treatments in the area of sarcopenia and age-related functional decline. Initiated by the Alliance for Aging Research, the AIM Coalition members are leading ongoing interactions with clinicians, regulators, and policy influencers to overcome obstacles that impede the development and evaluation of promising treatments for sarcopenia and associated functional decline in people as they age. AIM members represent patients, providers, caregivers, consumers, aging Americans, researchers, employers, and the health care industry.
About Sarcopenia
Sarcopenia is the progressive loss of skeletal muscle that comes with aging. Most people begin to lose modest amounts of muscle mass after age 30, but the resulting loss of strength increases exponentially with age. Sarcopenia is thought to play a major role in the increased frailty and functional impairment that comes with age. Possible effects of sarcopenia include decreased muscle strength, problems with mobility, frailty, weak bones (osteoporosis), falls and fractures, decreased activity levels, diabetes, middle-age weight gain, and a loss of physical function and independence.
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