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Fitness & Exercise for Senior Citizens
Senior Citizens Improve Strength, Rejuvenate Muscle,
Reverse Aging with Exercise
After training the strength of the older adults
improved about 50%
May 30,2007 - Not only does exercise make most
people feel better and perform physical tasks better, it now appears
that exercise – specifically, resistance training -- actually
rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens. It is one of two
studies released this month proving the ability of exercise to ward off
the debilitating effects of aging.
(See sidebar to link to second
study, "Growing Frail with Aging Can Be Avoided with Aerobic
Exercise.")
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A recent study involved before and after analysis
of gene expression profiles in tissue samples taken from 25 healthy
older men and women who underwent six months of twice weekly resistance
training, compared to a similar analysis of tissue samples taken from
younger healthy men and women.
The gene expression profiles involved age-specific
mitochondrial function; mitochondria act as the “powerhouse” of cells.
Multiple studies have suggested that mitochondrial
dysfunction is involved in the loss of muscle mass and functional
impairment commonly seen in older people.
The study was the first to examine the gene
expression profile, or the molecular “fingerprint”, of aging in healthy
disease-free humans. Results showed that in the older adults, there was
a decline in mitochondrial function with age. However, exercise resulted
in a remarkable reversal of the genetic fingerprint back to levels
similar to those seen in the younger adults.
The study also measured muscle strength. Before
exercise training, the older adults were 59% weaker than the younger
adults, but after the training the strength of the older adults improved
by about 50%, such that they were only 38% weaker than the young adults.
The results of this study, co-led by Buck Institute
faculty member Simon Melov, PhD, and Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, PhD, of
McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario, appear in the
May 23 edition of the online, open access journal PLoS One.
“We were very surprised by the results of the
study,” said Melov.
“We expected to see gene expressions that stayed
fairly steady in the older adults. The fact that their ‘genetic
fingerprints’ so dramatically reversed course gives credence to the
value of exercise, not only as a means of improving health, but of
reversing the aging process itself, which is an additional incentive to
exercise as you get older.”
The study participants were recruited at McMaster
University. The younger (20 to 35 with an average age of 26) and older
(older than 65 with an average age of 70) adults were matched in terms
of diet and exercise; none of them took medication or had diseases that
can alter mitochondrial function.
Tissue samples were taken from the thigh muscle.
The six month resistance training was done on standard gym equipment.
The twice-weekly sessions ran an hour in length and involved 30
contractions of each muscle group involved, similar to training sessions
available at most fitness centers. The strength test was based on knee
flexion.
The older participants, while generally active, had
never participated in formal weight training said co-first author
Tarnopolsky, who directs the Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Clinic at
McMaster University.
In a four month follow up after the study was
complete, he said most of the older adults were no longer doing formal
exercise in a gym, but most were doing resistance exercises at home,
lifting soup cans or using elastic bands. “They were still as strong,
they still had the same muscle mass,” said Tarnopolsky. “This shows that
it’s never too late to start exercising and that you don’t have to spend
your life pumping iron in a gym to reap benefits.”
Future studies are being designed to determine if
resistance training has any genetic impact on other types of human
tissue, such as those that comprise organs; researchers also want to
determine whether endurance training (running, cycling) impacts
mitochondrial function and the aging process. The most recent study also
points to particular gene expressions that could be used as starting
points for chemical screenings that could lead to drug therapies that
would modulate the aging process.
“The vast majority of aging studies are done in
worms, fruit flies and mice; this study was done in humans,” said Melov.
“It’s particularly rewarding to be able to scientifically validate
something practical that people can do now to improve their health and
the quality of their lives, as well as knowing that they are doing
something which is actually reversing aspects of the aging process.”
Editor's Notes:
Joining Melov and Tarnopolsky as co-authors of the
paper are Alan Hubbard and Krysta Felkey of the Buck Institute, and
Kenneth Beckman of the Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research
Institute. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health,
a Nathan Shock Award to the Buck Institute, a Ellison Medical Foundation
Senior Scholar award to Simon Melov and a grant to Mark Tarnopolsky from
the Canadian Institute for Health Research.
The Buck Institute is an independent non-profit
organization dedicated to extending the healthspan, the healthy years of
each individual’s life. The National Institute of Aging designated the
Buck a Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Biology of Aging, one of
just five centers in the country. Buck Institute scientists work in an
innovative, interdisciplinary setting to understand the mechanisms of
aging and to discover new ways of detecting, preventing and treating
age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,
cancer, stroke, and arthritis. Collaborative research at the Institute
is supported by genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics technology. For
more information:
http://www.buckinstitute.org
Funding: This work was supported by National
Institutes of Health Grants AG18679 (SM), AG024385 (SM), a Nathan Shock
Award to the Buck Institute (P30AG025708), an Ellison Medical Foundation
Senior Scholar award (SM), and a grant to MT from the Canadian Institute
for Health Research (CIHR # 108073).
Competing interests: The authors have declared that
no competing interests exist.
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