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Posted on Oct 13, 2002, 5 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
Getting older does not necessarily mean waving goodbye to muscle strength, say researchers from the University of Texas. It has long been thought that older people are not as strong as their younger counterparts because their bodies cannot make muscle protein fast enough to keep up with protein breakdown.
Getting older does not necessarily mean waving goodbye to muscle strength, say researchers from the University of Texas. It has long been thought that older people are not as strong as their younger counterparts because their bodies cannot make muscle protein fast enough to keep up with protein breakdown. However, study results revealed that muscle protein turnover in men aged 70 and above is no different to that seen in men with an average age of 28 years. Even so many old people do tend to lose muscle strength as they get older. It is thought that diet, inactivity, and hormonal changes could all contribute to age-related muscle loss.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Journal of the American Medical Association 2001;286:1206-1212
