Losing muscle mass as you age can affect your immune system and increase your chances of injury and chronic disease.
This week the New York Times reports that doctors are beginning to pay more attention to age-related muscle loss, called sarcopenia.
One interesting question brought up in the article: why do people suffer from muscle loss (brought on by age, inactivity, etc.) while some animals do not?
Bears in hibernation, for instance, do not eat and hardly move - and yet do not suffer from sarcopenia.
Scientist have learned that this is due, in part, to their dramatically slower metabolism during winter, shivering, which produces some muscle movement, and other protective metabolic mechanisms that slow the breakdown of muscle protein).
In fact, some researchers are now looking at how bears preserve muscle in order to help humans do the same.
In the meantime, for more on muscle mass for humans, read these past posts. Learn how Aminogen and protein nutrition factor in when it comes to maintaining your lean muscle.
