Aging and muscles. Despite extensive research efforts, the mechanism responsible for the age-associated decline in muscle mass and strength has not been completely elucidated. An age-associated decline in muscle mass certainly plays an important role (5). Recent studies suggest that changes in the amount and type of skeletal muscle proteins occur as well, caused by a number of multiple mechanisms (1, 15,35), and may explain the age-associated reduction of muscle strength per unit muscle mass described by some authors (15). Interestingly, resistance exercise training enhances muscle protein synthesis and improves muscle protein quality and, therefore, may counteract the progression of age-associated sarcopenia (36, 37).Muscles and physical function. The relationship between muscle function and physical disability has been previously examined by Ploutz-Snyder et al. (26), who searched for functionally relevant thresholds in the ratio of isometric leg extension peak torque to body weight [strength/weight (STR/WT)] that best discriminated the ability to perform three functional ambulatory tasks (26). They found that individuals with a STR/WT <3.0 N · m · kg-1 were at a substantial higher risk for impaired function in chair rise, gait speed, and stair ascent and descent. In our study, the best threshold in STR/WT that discriminated the ability to walk at a speed >0.8 m/s was 4.7. The difference between the two studies is likely to be attributable to differences in the functional outcomes. In fact, the ability to walk faster than 0.8 m/s pertains to the higher portion of the functional spectrum, and a STR/WT of 4.5 is very similar to 4.2–4.5 identified by Ploutz-Snyder et al. (26) as the best threshold for “optimal functioning.”Although several authors have used a definition of sarcopenia based on muscle mass (5, 21, 22), our findings suggest that measures of muscle mass should be complemented with measures of strength. This is consistent with recent data demonstrating that muscle strength, but not muscle mass, is independently associated with lower extremity performance (34). In addition, this is in accordance with research suggesting that the mechanical force produced per volumetric unit of muscle tissue declines with aging in humans (32) and with preclinical data, which demonstrate that the tension developed by a single-muscle fiber depends on the age of the experimental animal (7).
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