Sarcopenia
January 10, 2009
Sarcopenia (from the Greek meaning “poverty of flesh”) is a degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength associated with senescence. It is an age-related loss of skeletal muscle resulting in frailty. It increases the risk of falls and it increases the chance of injury.
People who remain inactive in their life tend to loose about 0.5% of muscle mass every year, and the percentage keeps increasing year after year. The muscle mass which we are losing is replaced by fat cells in our body.
Causes of sarcopenia:
Of course the first cause is the aging process. When a person is around 45 years of age the muscle mass begins to decline by around 15% every year, and by the time the person is 70-80 years old, it increases by about 30%. This reduces strength, so activities like taking walks, climbing stairs and other normal routine chores become difficult, and are later avoided, which tends to increase weakness.
Loss of muscle mass occurs more in physically inactive people than in active people.
Old age reduces the hormones in the human body, which also is a cause for sarcopenia.
The estrogen levels in females after menopause also causes sarcopenia.
Lack of nutrition is also a reason for development of sarcopenia.
Prevention and treatment:
Resistance training like weight lifting or strength training is the most important method to prevent and treat sarcopenia, as it helps to build the body muscles, and increase the strength in the human body. Intake of nutrition also helps.
Try out the following programs to build your muscles:
1. a. Standing calf raised; b. Abdominal crunch
2. a. Back squat; b. Lying leg curl
3. a. Bent-over row b. Close-grip bench press
Repeat these sets 10-12 times with a gap of 60 seconds of rest in between. The maintenance of muscle tone is also helpful with weight control.
There is a saying about muscles: “If you don’t use it, you’ll loose it” This is true! If we are not able to move, our quality of life is lost. So incorporate resistance training to your daily routine and live a long and active life.
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