Isn’t getting older fun? Among other delights to look forward to is age-related muscle loss. As we age, our muscles shrink — especially after the age of sixty-five.
Previous research has noted that the bodies of older people build muscle less efficiently than the bodies of younger people. That’s only half the bad news. (Or maybe a third. Losing muscle increases a person’s chance of serious injury from a fall — and that’s very bad.)
New research from the University of Nottingham in England has found that the bodies of older people are also not as good at preventing muscle breakdown. So not only is the body building muscle less efficiently, it’s also not stopping the breakdown of existing muscle. Yay.
Here’s how they found it: they tracked the movement of insulin through the body in research subjects in their 20s and in their 60s. Diabetics are already very familiar with insulin thanks to the hormone’s role in blood sugar regulation. But insulin also helps the body carry nutrients where they need to go — like to muscles and organs for use.
Research subjects were given insulin first thing in the morning, to simulate having eaten an average breakfast. Blood tests helped researchers track how the insulin was carrying amino acids and other building blocks around the body and into the legs. Younger bodies in the study were able to stop muscle breakdown using the fresh fuel; older bodies were not.
Researchers believe this may be due in part to circulation. Younger bodies had a greater blood flow (and nutrient supply) than the older bodies did. So this is one possible (or partial) cause for muscle wasting.
There is some good news to come out of this study — how you can slow or stop muscle loss.
The same research team did a second study, taking a look at using exercise to help increase blood flow in the elderly. Just three exercise sessions per week were enough to slow or stop muscle loss — or reverse it entirely. After twenty weeks of exercise, the seniors in the study had blood flow that was comparable to the subjects in their 20s.