fixaging

As the body ages muscles gradually get weaker and less able to bear load. This has a huge impact on the whole body as muscles help to support the body organs and keep everything together. Also quality of life issues are impacted as with the reduction in strength comes the reduction in ability to carry about basic tasks and keep mobile. However it is possible to slow down and temporarily reverse these effects by doing strength training. It is already well known that resistance exercises improve muscle strength of old and young alike, but new research suggests that the effect may be actually turning back on the clock on the muscle aging.

This was identified in the online journal PLoS One. The gene expression profile in older adults muscle was compared with healthy young adults. Researchers found that the profiles deferred significantly. The difference indicated that the older muscle tissue had mitochondria (’powerhouse’ of the cell) which were not functioning as well. However this was reversible, as was shown when 14 of the older adults spent 6 months strength training. After this period their gene expression profile matched more the youthful gene profile appearance. The lead study author was Dr. Simon Melov of the Buck Institute of Age Research.

SOURCE: PLoS One, online May 23, 2007.

Tags: Aging //