Musculoskeletal ageing and primary prevention

Loss of musculoskeletal mass and function is a natural ageing trait, reinforced by an unhealthy life style. Loss of bone (osteoporosis) and muscle (sarcopaenia) are conditions whose prevalence are increasing because of the change in population distribution in the western world towards an older mean age. Improvements in lifestyle factors, such as diet, smoking and exercise, are the most powerful tools to combat this decline efficiently; however, public health interventions aimed at tackling these problems have shown abysmal success at the population level, mostly due to failure in compliance. With these issues in mind, we believe that the primary prevention modality in coming decades will be pharmacological. We review the basic biology of musculoskeletal ageing and what measures can be taken to prevent ageing-associated loss of musculoskeletal mass and function, with particular emphasis on pharmacological means.