Maintaining Muscle Strength: A Stronger Future For The Elderly

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Maintaining Muscle Strength: A Stronger Future For The Elderly

http://medicalnewscenter.com/out/out.cgi?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080911103922.htm

Experts at The University of Nottingham are to investigate the effect

of nutrients on muscle maintenance in the hope of determining better

ways of keeping up our strength as we get old.

The researchers, based at the School of Graduate Entry Medicine and

Health in Derby, want to know what sort of exercise we can take and

what food we should eat to slow down the natural loss of skeletal

muscle with ageing.

The team from the Department of Clinical Physiology, which has over

20 years experience in carrying out this type of metabolic study,

need to recruit 16 healthy male volunteers in two specific age groups

to help in it's research.

Skeletal muscles make up about half of our body weight and are

responsible for controlling movement and maintaining posture.

However, at around 50 years of age our muscles begin to waste at

approximately 0.5 per cent to one per cent a year. It means that an

80 year old may only have 70 per cent of the muscle of a 50 year old.

Since the strength of skeletal muscle is proportional to muscle size,

such wasting makes it harder to carry out daily activities requiring

strength, such as climbing stairs and leads to a loss of independence

and an increased risk of falls and fractures.

In order for skeletal muscles to maintain their size, the large

reservoirs of muscle protein require constant replenishment in the

way of amino acids from protein contained within the food we eat. In

fact, amino acids from our food act not only as the building blocks

of muscle proteins but also actually `tell' our muscle cells to build

proteins.

Recent research from the clinical physiology team has shown that the

cause of muscle wasting with ageing appears to be an attenuation of

muscle building in response to protein feeding. In other words, as we

age we lose the ability to covert the protein in the food we eat in

to muscle tissue. The proposed research will investigate the

mechanisms responsible for this deficit.

Dr Philip Atherton, who is currently recruiting volunteers, said: " I

am really excited to be involved in this project because if we can

determine ways to better maintain muscle mass as we age it will

greatly benefit us all. "

The researchers are looking for 16 healthy, non-smoking, male

volunteers aged 18 to 25 and 65 to 75.

Initially, the volunteers will undergo a health screening and then on

a different day, under the supervision of a doctor, will be infused

with an amino acid mixture to simulate feeding along with a `tagged'

amino acid that allows them to assess muscle building. To make these

measures, blood samples will be taken from the arm and muscle

biopsies from the thigh muscle under local anaesthesia. Volunteers

will receive an honorarium to cover their expenses.

The study will take place at The University of Nottingham's Medical

School which based at the City Hospital in Derby.