Sarcopenia
Margaret writes that a
recent issue of a health bulletin that she regularly receives had an
interesting piece on sarcopenia. That’s defined as the loss of muscle mass and
coordination associated with aging. Tell me about it.
It’s the word components
that Margaret asked about. Sarco- comes from the Greek σαρκ- (sark), meaning
flesh. Penia comes from the Greek πενία (penia), and it means poverty or
deficiency.
Both word parts occur
most frequently in medical or scientific terms. Most people, I would think,
know what a sarcoma is. They may not realize, however, that the word sarcasm, a
cutting remark, literally means a tearing or ripping of flesh.
A slight complication
arises because two other Latin words used the –sarc– letter sequence. The word sarcio meant to patch or to mend; that brought us the
English consarcinate, to patch together. The word sarcina was a load or a pack. In the old days, you could
sarcinate – that is, load a beast of burden.
I would have thought
that the –penia combining
form would be a most useful tool in defining various deficiencies, but a
wildcard search in the Oxford English Dictionary turned up only 15 words. They range from
cytopenia (a reduction of the normal number of blood cells) to thrombopenia (a
decrease in the number of platelets in circulating blood).
Listen to Mike’s
program in real time every Tuesday morning, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. EST, by going to
wtcmradio.com and clicking on Listen Now. You’ll also find about a month’s worth of podcasts there under The
Ron Jolly Show.
Comments