Sarcopenia, Frailty, and Gero-Science: A Decade of Progress and a Bright Future of Discovery

As we reflect 11th edition of the International Conference on Frailty and Sarcopenia Research (ICFSR) in Toulouse (France) (1, 2), it is worth reflecting on the progress on sarcopenia and frailty since our inaugural conference in Toulouse in 2011. At that conference (with less than 100 attendees), we were just beginning to understand the observational evidence linking poor muscle function with advancing age to distal outcomes of reduced physical functioning and mobility disability, the underlying biological mechanisms leading to the frailty syndrome were emerging, and pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic intervention trials in patients with sarcopenia and frailty were being planned and initiated. In the nearly one decade since that first meeting, much scientific progress has been made in our understanding of the biological mechanisms of sarcopenia and frailty and a number of therapeutic interventions in this area have been evaluated. …