Tung-Wei Kao Taiwan

Dr. Tung-Wei Kao is attending physician at Tri-Service General Hospital, associate professor at National Defense Medical University, and director of the Taiwan Society of Health Promoting Hospital. He received his MD from National Defense Medical University and completed both his MSc and PhD in clinical medicine at National Taiwan University. His career has been devoted to family medicine and geriatric medicine, spanning clinical care, academic medicine, and institutional leadership. He has served as resident physician and chief resident physician in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Tri-Service General Hospital, geriatric research fellow at the National Health Research Institute, and later as director of geriatrics medicine and director of family and community medicine at Tri-Service General Hospital.His academic work focuses on muscle health and body composition, with particular interest in sarcopenia and dynapenia. Through sustained contributions to ageing research and translational geriatric medicine, he has advanced the understanding of functional decline and healthy ageing in later life. His scholarly work has been recognized with the Excellent Academic Paper Award and the Award of the Best Citation Paper at Tri-Service General Hospital.

21 MARCH

Time	Session

13:30 15:00	[DAROC Symposium 2] Complication Musculoskeletal and Skeletal Complications of Diabetes Mellitus Jung-Fu ChenTaiwan Moderator Tien-Jyun ChangTaiwan Moderator Assessing and Managing Osteoporosis in Patients with Diabetes Jawl-Shan HwangTaiwan Speaker Assessing and Managing Osteoporosis in Patients with Diabetes Diabetes and Osteoarthritis: Metabolic Links and Clinical Implications Jia-Feng ChenTaiwan Speaker Diabetes and Osteoarthritis: Metabolic Links and Clinical Implications Sarcopenia in Diabetes: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management Tung-Wei KaoTaiwan Speaker Sarcopenia in Diabetes: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management Sarcopenia is emerging as a critical yet under-recognized dimension of diabetes, linking metabolic disease to progressive loss of muscle health and physical function. Beyond its traditional association with ageing, growing evidence shows that diabetes is linked to accelerated declines in muscle mass, strength, and physical performance. These changes have important clinical consequences, contributing to frailty, disability, and loss of independence. As the global burden of diabetes continues to rise, maintaining skeletal muscle health is becoming an increasingly important component of diabetes care. Recent advances in metabolic and musculoskeletal research have begun to illuminate the biological links between diabetes and accelerated muscle deterioration. Alterations in insulin signaling, ectopic fat accumulation within skeletal muscle, chronic low-grade inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction are increasingly recognized as converging pathways that compromise muscle quality and function. At the same time, new consensus frameworks—including the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2025 update—have expanded the concept from sarcopenia alone toward a broader focus on muscle health across the lifespan. Importantly, emerging clinical evidence suggests that sarcopenia in diabetes is not merely a consequence of ageing but a potentially modifiable condition. Interventions such as resistance exercise, structured physical activity, and targeted nutritional strategies have shown promising benefits in improving muscle strength and functional capacity in individuals with diabetes. As the global burden of diabetes continues to rise, understanding the bidirectional relationship between metabolic disease and skeletal muscle health is becoming increasingly relevant for clinical practice. This lecture will review current perspectives on sarcopenia in diabetes, highlighting key mechanistic insights, evolving diagnostic approaches, and the growing body of evidence supporting preventive and therapeutic strategies aimed at preserving muscle health in this high-risk population. 102

Time

Session

13:30

15:00

[DAROC Symposium 2] Complication

Musculoskeletal and Skeletal Complications of Diabetes Mellitus

Jung-Fu ChenTaiwan Moderator

Tien-Jyun ChangTaiwan Moderator

Assessing and Managing Osteoporosis in Patients with Diabetes

Jawl-Shan HwangTaiwan Speaker Assessing and Managing Osteoporosis in Patients with Diabetes
Diabetes and Osteoarthritis: Metabolic Links and Clinical Implications

Jia-Feng ChenTaiwan Speaker Diabetes and Osteoarthritis: Metabolic Links and Clinical Implications
Sarcopenia in Diabetes: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management

Tung-Wei KaoTaiwan Speaker Sarcopenia in Diabetes: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management Sarcopenia is emerging as a critical yet under-recognized dimension of diabetes, linking metabolic disease to progressive loss of muscle health and physical function. Beyond its traditional association with ageing, growing evidence shows that diabetes is linked to accelerated declines in muscle mass, strength, and physical performance. These changes have important clinical consequences, contributing to frailty, disability, and loss of independence. As the global burden of diabetes continues to rise, maintaining skeletal muscle health is becoming an increasingly important component of diabetes care. Recent advances in metabolic and musculoskeletal research have begun to illuminate the biological links between diabetes and accelerated muscle deterioration. Alterations in insulin signaling, ectopic fat accumulation within skeletal muscle, chronic low-grade inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction are increasingly recognized as converging pathways that compromise muscle quality and function. At the same time, new consensus frameworks—including the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2025 update—have expanded the concept from sarcopenia alone toward a broader focus on muscle health across the lifespan. Importantly, emerging clinical evidence suggests that sarcopenia in diabetes is not merely a consequence of ageing but a potentially modifiable condition. Interventions such as resistance exercise, structured physical activity, and targeted nutritional strategies have shown promising benefits in improving muscle strength and functional capacity in individuals with diabetes. As the global burden of diabetes continues to rise, understanding the bidirectional relationship between metabolic disease and skeletal muscle health is becoming increasingly relevant for clinical practice. This lecture will review current perspectives on sarcopenia in diabetes, highlighting key mechanistic insights, evolving diagnostic approaches, and the growing body of evidence supporting preventive and therapeutic strategies aimed at preserving muscle health in this high-risk population.

102