The association of alcohol consumption with the risk of sarcopenia

Sarcopenia is defined as a progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass plus a decline in muscle strength and/or reduced physical performance with advancing age. The results of current studies on the relationship between drinking and sarcopenia remain controversial.
A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association of alcohol consumption with the risk of sarcopenia. Systematic searches were conducted on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wanfang Data, Chinese BioMedical Literature, and China national knowledge infrastructure databases. Sixty-two studies with 454,643 participants were enrolled.
The meta-analysis revealed that alcohol consumption was not associated with the presence of sarcopenia, with a pooled OR of 0.964 (95% CI = 0.912-1.019). Further subgroup analysis indicated that alcohol consumption was correlated with lower risk of sarcopenia in men (OR = 0.763; 95% CI = 0.622-0.938). The nonlinear dose-response analysis suggested a J-shaped association between alcohol consumption and the risk of sarcopenia, with a nadir at the amounts of alcohol consumption of 6.6 grams/day (OR = 0.765; 95% CI = 0.608-0.957)
The meta-analysis results indicate that alcohol consumption is not a risk factor for the development of sarcopenia. The authors warn, however, that any suggestion of a putative protective effect of alcohol should be treated with caution, particularly in light of the overall lack of relationship reported in the present comprehensive meta-analysis.
Source: Bu YL, Wang C, Zhao C, Lu X, Gao W. The association of alcohol consumption with the risk of sarcopenia: a dose-response meta-analysis. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2024 Jan 17:1-16.