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As muscle and bone are closely-related, we have explored the association between sarcopenia-related measurements and bone mineral density (BMD) (and osteoporosis) in postmenopausal women. Grip strength, anterior thigh muscle thickness and chair stand test were found to be related with BMD. Additionally, grip strength 22 kg increased the odds ratio of osteoporosis 1.6 times.As muscle and bone are two closely related tissues, we aimed to investigate the association between sarcopenia-related measurements (i.e., sonographic anterior thigh muscle thickness, grip strength, chair stand test (CST), gait speed) and clinical factors, lumbar/femoral BMD, and the presence of osteoporosis (OP) in postmenopausal women.Community dwelling postmenopausal women from two physical and rehabilitation medicine outpatient clinics were consecutively included in this cross-sectional study. Demographic data, age, weight, height, education/exercise status, smoking, and comorbidities were registered. BMD measurements were performed from lumbar vertebrae (L1-4) and femoral neck using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). A T-score of ≤ -2.5 SD in the lumbar vertebrae (L1-L4) and/or femoral neck was accepted as OP. Anterior thigh muscle thickness (MT) at the midthigh level was measured sonographically using a linear probe. Grip strength was measured from the dominant side. Physical performance was assessed by CST and gait speed.Among 546 postmenopausal women, 222 (40.7%) had OP. Among sarcopenia-related parameters, grip strength and anterior thigh MT were positively associated with lumbar vertebral BMD. CST performance was positively associated with femoral neck BMD. After adjusting for confounding factors, low grip strength ( 22 kg) increased 1.6 times the risk of OP.Loss of muscle mass/function (i.e., sarcopenia) can coexist with loss of trabecular and cortical bone. To this end, grip strength and anterior thigh MT seem to be associated with the lumbar vertebral BMD, while CST is associated with the femoral neck BMD. Lastly, low grip strength might have an association with postmenopausal OP.

Objectives: This study was aimed to evaluate the frequency of fibromyalgianess, fibromyalgia syndrome (FS) and widespread pain in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and their relationship with clinical and demographic parameters. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional multicenter trial was performed in 14 centers across Türkiye. 661 patients (342 RA, 319 AS) have been recruited for the study. In these cohorts those who did not meet the criteria for FS and had widespread pain (widespread pain index≥7) were evaluated as a separate group. Clinical status and demographic parameters of patients in both cohorts were evaluated as well as the evaluations of RA and AS patients with widespread pain (widespread pain index≥7) and RA and AS patients with FS groups. In addition, correlations between Polysymptomatic Distress Scale (PSD) scores and visual analogue scale (VAS), Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI), Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Disease Activity Score using 28 joint counts (DAS 28) for RA patients and VAS, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) for AS patients were analyzed. Results: Frequencies of patients with FS and patients who had PSD scores≥12 were 34.1% and 44.4% in all RA patients respectively. Moreover, FS and PSD scores ≥12 were found as 29.2% and 36.9% in all AS patients respectively. PSD scores of RA patients with FS were higher than all RA and RA with widespread pain patients’. SDAI and CDAI scores of RA patients with FSwere higher than all RA and RA with widespread pain patients’as well. Similarly,PSD scores of AS patients with FS were higher than all AS and AS with widespread pain patients’. ASDAS-ESR and BASDAI scores of AS patients with FS were found higher than all AS and AS with widespread pain patients’. Conclusion: Disease activity scores including pain in RA and AS patients’ were seemed higher in the presence of FS or fibromyalgianess. It may be related to clinical parameters, but cohort studies with long-term follow-up are needed in order to reveal causality. Additionally, in order to reduce overtreatment, coexistence of fibromyalgianess should be kept in mind in patients who had inflammatory diseases like RA and AS especially with intractable widespread pain.

To investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and RAS-related disorders and to explore the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin-II receptor blockers (ARBs) on muscle mass/function and physical performance.This multi-center, cross-sectional study was performed using ISarcoPRM algorithm for the diagnosis of sarcopenia.Of the 2613 participants (mean age; 61.0 ± 9.5 years), 1775 (67.9%) were hypertensive. All sarcopenia-related parameters [except chair stand test (CST) in males] were worse in hypertensive group than in normotensive group (all p0.05). When clinical/potential confounders were adjusted; HT was found to be an independent predictor of sarcopenia in males [OR = 2.403 (95%CI: 1.514-3.813)] and females [OR = 1.906 (95%CI: 1.328-2.734)] (both p0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that all sarcopenia-related parameters (except grip strength and CST in males) were independently/negatively related with HT (all p0.05). In females, ACEIs users had higher grip strength and CST performance values but had lower muscle thickness and gait speed values, as compared to those using ARBs (all p0.05).Hypertension was associated with increased risk of sarcopenia at least two times. Among antihypertensives; while ACEIs had higher muscle values, ARBs had higher muscle mass and physical performance values only in females.

Background: Compression is the most important component of complete decongestive therapy (CDT), but there is no standard best method for applying compression. The aim of this study was to evaluate ...

BACKGROUND Hypertension and sarcopenia are commonly seen in older adults. The renin-angiotensin system and the therapeutic use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been on the agenda of sarcopenia in different perspectives. Our aim was to explore the frequency of sarcopenia in patients with hypertension and to investigate the association between the use of ACE inhibitors and sarcopenia. METHODS A total of 272 community-dwelling adults were recruited. Anterior thigh muscle thickness was measured by ultrasound. Handgrip strength, gait speed, and chair stand test were evaluated. Low muscle mass was diagnosed in the presence of low sonographic thigh adjustment ratio (STAR) values and sarcopenia was diagnosed if low STAR values were coupled with low functional tests. RESULTS 136 subjects (50.0%) had no comorbid disease; 102 (37.5%) had one, 21 (7.7%) had two, nine (3.3%) had three and four (1.5%) had four comorbid diseases. Both low muscle mass (41.9% vs 13.2%) and sarcopenia (32.2% vs 7.8%) were more commonly seen in hypertensive when compared with normotensive older adults. Subgroup analysis of older adults with hypertension revealed that sarcopenia was less prevalent (P = .003) in patients using ACE inhibitors (8.7%) than those using angiotensin II receptor blockers (48.7%) and other antihypertensive drugs (46.4%). After binary logistic regression analyses; only the presence of hypertension seemed to independently predict the development of sarcopenia in older adults [OR = 6.5 (95% CI: 2.4-17.8, P