Loss of muscle mass and strength is universal across the aging population. A perhaps surprising amount of this loss is the result of lifestyle choice, however. We live in an age of comfort, in which people conduct lesser degrees of physical activity than was normally the case in past centuries. Compare the average modern first world individual with the average modern hunter-gatherer, and the hunter-gatherer is in better shape, better maintaining muscle function into later life. Given than people age at different rates, and people undertake different degrees of physical activity, one might expect to see variations in muscle mass and strength in later life, and indeed this is the …
Muscle Strength Correlates with Mortality in the Oldest People
Loss of muscle mass and strength is universal across the aging population. A perhaps surprising amount of this loss is the result of lifestyle choice, however. We live in an age of comfort, in which people conduct lesser degrees of physical activity than was normally the case in past centuries. Compare the average modern first world individual with the average modern hunter-gatherer, and the hunter-gatherer is in better shape, better maintaining muscle function into later life. Given than people age at different rates, and people undertake different degrees of physical activity, one might expect to see variations in muscle mass and strength in later life, and indeed this is the …