Newswise, July 22, 2016 — Exercise may have some surprising
benefits for seniors who experience rapid muscle loss and muscle injury and
loss as they age. Researchers at McMaster University have found that physical
activity can help retain, even repair and regenerate damaged muscle in the
elderly.
The findings challenge what is generally seen as an inevitable
fact of life: that muscle atrophy and damage cannot be completely repaired in
old age and in some cases lost altogether.
Researchers compared and analyzed the capacity for muscle
repair performance ofin a group of young mice, a group of old sedentary mice
and a group of old exercise-trained mice. three groups of young and old mice,
some of which had experienced muscle injury, some of which had been exercise
trained, and others which had not.
“The world’s older population is rapidly growing and
preventing muscle loss and promoting muscle repair is paramount to preserve
health,” says Gianni Parise, lead author of the study and an associate
professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster.
“These findings suggest that age-related compromised muscle
repair can be rescued with regular exercise,” he says.
After eight weeks of exercise, researchers found the old mice
were able to repair and rebuild muscle more quickly following injury when
compared to the old mice which had not exercised.
And after a period of 28 days, muscle repair was comparable to
that of young mice. Old mice that had not exercised did not fully recover.
The findings suggest that exercise can be used as a
preventative measure in older adults who lose muscle rapidly when their
activity levels fall, which can happen for a variety of reasons, including
illness or extended hospital stays.
“Quite simply, this demonstrates the importance of remaining
active throughout life,” says Parise. “Regular exercise can preserve basic
processes that govern muscle health.”
The research was published in the FASEB Journal.
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