A 95-year-old male has lost muscle mass as he aged. He does not have any underlying disease that has caused this loss. What is this termed?

• A. Hypoproteinemia
• B. Sarcopenia
• C. Cachexia
• D. Presbycusis

Answer: (B)

Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. As people get older, there is a natural decline in muscle fibers and motor units, along with hormonal changes, reduced protein synthesis, and often lower physical activity or inadequate nutrition. When there isn’t an underlying disease causing weight loss, this gradual muscle wasting fits sarcopenia—the body’s normal aging-related change in muscle.

Cachexia, by contrast, involves disease-driven wasting with inflammation and metabolic changes that accompany illness. Hypoproteinemia means low blood protein levels, which can reflect malnutrition or other conditions but isn’t the term for age-related muscle loss. Presbycusis is age-related hearing loss and not related to muscle mass.

So the scenario matches sarcopenia—the natural, age-associated decline in muscle mass in someone without an underlying disease causing the loss.