Which Goes First: Muscle Loss With Aging by Jerry Brainum 3/24

 

One of the sad facts of life is that you cannot maintain the same degree of muscle mass and strength as you age. No matter how much muscle mass and strength you developed in your youth, it's inevitable that much of that mass and strength will be lost as you get older. That's the bad news. The good news is that while you won't look the same at 70 as when you were 30 if you do certain things known to help maintain muscle, you can keep a lot more muscle than someone who lets nature take its course. However, research published in the last few years shows that all muscles don't age the same way. Some muscles and muscle groups are far more subject to muscle loss than others. Those who don't regularly engage in resistance training will lose the most muscle and suffer the most significant health consequences. Studies show that losing muscle mass with age directly correlates to mortality. In short, the more muscle you lose, the faster you will die. One reason for this is the frailty that accompanies muscle loss with aging. The majority of people in nursing homes aren't there because of mental problems, as is commonly supposed. But instead because of a high degree of frailty. These people cannot feed or dress themselves, and they are far more prone to falls that could speed up their demise.

The loss of muscle with age is called sarcopenia, which is inevitable unless a person is regularly involved in resistance training, such as lifting weights. The body is a machine, and the muscles can be viewed as the engines that move the machines. Just as machines rust and fall apart with disuse, so does the human body, from head to toe. Whatever isn't used disappears. Those who don't continue to educate themselves by learning new things and participating in behavior that challenges the brain will slowly lose the ability to think clearly, with memory deficits being most evident. But slight memory problems, known as Minimal Cognitive Impairment, are not related to dementia and do occur in many people over 40. Examples of MCI include forgetting where your keys are or not remembering names. While it may be alarming to experience such mental changes, it's just another part of the aging process. The good news is that the ability to learn new things not only never ends but can improve with age.

Muscle mass declines as early as 30 if no resistance training is done. The muscle mass then decreases an average of 3 to 8% per decade but accelerates after age 60. As men age, they get the familiar appearance of thin legs and arms with thicker waists. To the naked eye, it appears that muscle . . .