Objectives: To study appendicular muscle mass in women with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to investigate the association between sarcopenia and AD. To examine the AD associated changes in body fat distribution.
Design: a cross-sectional study of 32 women with AD and 32 healthy age and bone mineral density matched women.
Setting: Toulouse, France.
Results: No differences were noted in fat free soft tissue mass or Appendicular Skeletal Muscle (ASM) mass between AD women and control women. The difference of ASM (kg) /height2 (m)2, used as an index of relative skeletal muscle mass, was not statistically significative between the two groups. The prevalence of sarcopenia increased from 21.9 % in healthy elderly women to 40.6 % in AD women but the difference was not statistically significant. No statistically significant relationship emerged between sarcopenia and AD (OR= 0.41, CI 0.12-1.4). Moreover, total body fat mass was significantly lower in women with AD than in the age -, sex - and bone mineral density - matched controls.
Conclusion: AD are not necessary linked to sarcopenia. The decrease in adipose tissue in women with AD could be one more factor involving estrogen deficiency in the etiology of the disease.