Sarcopenia, literally meaning
"lack of flesh" is a common condition that affects adults who are
over 50 years old. While it can decrease life expectancy and quality of life,
there are actions you can take to prevent and even reverse the condition.
After middle age, adults lose 3% of
their muscle strength every year, on average. This limits their ability to
perform many routine activities.
Sarcopenia is caused by an imbalance
between signals for muscle cell growth and signals for teardown. Cell growth
processes are called "anabolism," and cell teardown processes are
called "catabolism".
However, during aging, the body
becomes resistant to the normal growth signals, tipping the balance toward
catabolism and muscle loss .
Four Factors That Accelerate Muscle
Loss:
Although aging is the most common
cause of sarcopenia, other factors can also trigger an imbalance between muscle
anabolism and catabolism......
1. Immobility, Including a Sedentary
Lifestyle ..leading to faster muscle loss and increasing weakness.
Bed rest or immobilization after an
injury or illness leads to rapid loss of muscle.
Although less dramatic, two to three
weeks of decreased walking and other regular activity is also enough to
decrease muscle mass and strength.
In fact, periods of decreased
activity can become a vicious cycle. Muscle strength decreases, resulting in
greater fatigue and making it more difficult to return to normal activity.
2. Unbalanced Diet
A diet providing insufficient
calories and protein results in weight loss and diminished muscle mass.
Unfortunately, low-calorie and
low-protein diets become more common with aging, due to changes in sense of
taste, problems with the teeth, gums and swallowing, or increased difficulty
shopping and cooking.
To help prevent sarcopenia, it is
recommended to consum e 25–30 grams of protein at each meal .
3. Inflammation:
After injury or illness, inflammation
sends signals to the body to tear down and then rebuild the damaged groups of
cells.
Chronic or long-term diseases
can also result in inflammation that disrupts the normal balance of teardown
and healing, resulting in muscle loss.
Examples include COPD, Rheumatoid
Arthritis, Inflammatory Bowel diseases like Crohn's disease or Ulcerative
Colitis, Lupus, Vasculitis, severe Burns and Chronic infections like
tuberculosis etc.
4. Severe Stress:
Sarcopenia is also more common in a
number of other health conditions that increase stress on the body, eg people
with Chronic liver disease, and Chronic heart failure, Chronic
kidney disease, Cancer and cancer treatments .
The signs of sarcopenia:
Early signs of sarcopenia include
feeling physically weaker over time, and having more difficulty than usual
lifting familiar objects .
"A hand-grip-strength test has
been used to help diagnose sarcopenia".
Decreased strength might show itself
in other ways too, including walking more slowly, becoming exhausted more
easily and having less interest in being active.
Losing weight without trying can
also be a sign of sarcopenia .
Noticeable loss of strength or
stamina and unintentional weight loss are signs of multiple diseases, including
sarcopenia. If you are experiencing any of these without a good reason, talk to
your doctor.
Management of Sarcopenia :
Although some of the causes of
sarcopenia are a natural consequence of aging, others are preventable.The
strongest way to fight sarcopenia is to keep your muscles active . In fact, a
healthy diet and regular exercise can reverse sarcopenia, increasing lifespan
and quality of life.
Combinations of aerobic exercise,
resistance training and balance training can prevent and even reverse muscle
loss. At least two to four exercise sessions weekly may be required to achieve
these benefits.
All types of exercise are
beneficial, but some more than others.
1. Resistance Training:
Resistance training includes
weightlifting, pulling against resistance bands or moving part of the body
against gravity.
When you perform resistance
exercise, the tension on your muscle fibers results in growth signals that lead
to increased strength. Resistance exercise also increases the actions of
growth-promoting hormones . These signals combine to cause muscle cells to grow
and repair themselves, both by making new proteins and by turning on special
muscle stem cells called "satellite cells," which reinforce existing
muscle.
2. Fitness Training.
Sustained exercise that raises your
heart rate, including aerobic exercise and endurance training, can also control
sarcopenia.
The study found that five days per
week of cycling, jogging or hiking increased muscle mass.
3. Walking:
Walking can also prevent and even
reverse sarcopenia, and it's an activity most people can do for free, anywhere
they live.
If you're deficient in calories,
protein or certain vitamins and minerals, you may be at higher risk of muscle
loss.
However, even if you aren't
deficient, getting higher doses of some key nutrients can promote muscle growth
or enhance the benefits of exercise.
1. Protein:
Getting protein in your diet
directly signals your muscle tissue to build and strengthen.
As people age, their muscles become
more resistant to this signal, so they need to consume more protein to increase
muscle growth .
The amino acid leucine is
particularly important for regulating muscle growth. Rich sources of leucine
include whey protein, meat, fish and eggs, as well as soy protein isolate.
2. Vitamin D:
Vitamin D deficiency is related to
sarcopenia, although the reasons why are not entirely understood .
Taking vitamin D supplements can
increase muscle strength and reduce the risk of falling.
3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids:
No matter how old you are, consuming
omega-3 fatty acids via seafood or 2gm of fish oil supplements will increase
your muscle growth.
4. Creatine:
Creatine is a small protein normally
made in the liver. Although your body makes enough to prevent you from becoming
deficient, creatine in the diet from meat or as a supplement may benefit your
muscle growth.
When participants took the creatine,
they got more benefits from resistance training compared to when they performed
resistance training with no creatine .
Please note......Creatine is
probably not beneficial for sarcopenia if used alone, without exercise.
The Impression:
Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass
and strength, becomes more common with age and can decrease lifespan and
quality of life.
Eating enough calories and
high-quality protein can slow down the rate of muscle loss. Omega-3 and
creatine supplements may also help fight sarcopenia.
Nevertheless, exercising is the most
effective way to prevent and reverse sarcopenia.
Resistance exercises appear to be
particularly effective, including using resistance bands, lifting weights or
doing calisthenics like squats, push-ups and sit-ups.
However, even simple exercises like
walking can slow your rate of muscle loss. At the end of the day, the most
important thing is to get active.
Stay Moving Stay Active Stay Fit
No comments:
Post a Comment