Weight lifting reverses muscle loss in the elderly, aerobic exercise does not

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Tuesday, November 18, 2008 2:21 pm Email this article
Resistance training reverses muscle loss in the elderly, whereas aerobic exercise does not notes D. J. Millward from the University of Surrey in Surrey, England in an Editorial in the November 2008 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"[A]ccording to the work of Campbell et al (2002), resistance exercise reverses sarcopenia [age-related loss of muscle] at relatively low protein intakes (ie, safe level of 0.8 [grams per kilogram of body weight per day]), and such training responses are not improved by higher protein intakes or influenced by protein quality [Campbell et al, 2007]," Millward writes.

"Indeed high levels of aerobic exercise have long been known not to prevent sarcopenia [age-related loss of muscle], even though they are, assumedly, accompanied by high food and hence protein intakes."

Comment: Hormone replacement therapy also reverses muscle loss in the elderly (Sorensen et al, 2001). REFERENCE

Millward D. Sufficient protein for our elders? Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Nov, 88(5):1187-88.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

D. J. Millward
Division of Nutritional Sciences
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Surrey
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
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OTHER REFERENCES

Sorensen M, Rosenfalck A, Hojgaard L, Ottesen B. Obesity and sarcopenia after menopause are reversed by sex hormone replacement therapy. Obes Res. 2001 Oct, 9(10):622-26.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

M. Sorensen
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Hvidovre Hospital
University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
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