ABOVE: © ISTOCK, CHRISCHRISW
To you readers over age 30, we’ve got some bad news for you. Chances are good you’ve already begun losing muscle. And it only gets worse. Up to a quarter of adults over the age of 60 and half of those over 80 have thinner arms and legs than they did in their youth.
In 1988, Tufts University’s Irwin Rosenberg coined the term “sarcopenia” from Greek roots to describe this age-related lack (penia) of flesh (sarx). Muscle aging likely has several underlying factors, including decreased numbers of muscle stem cells, mitochondrial dysfunction, a decline in protein quality and turnover, and hormonal deregulation. Loss of muscle mass is associated with—and possibly preceded by—muscle weakness, which can make carrying out daily activities, such as climbing stairs or even getting up from a chair, difficult for many seniors. This can lead to inactivity, which itself leads to muscle loss ...
