On Sarcopenia
(From FortWayne.com). An article on sarcopenia, age-related muscle degeneration, has been doing the rounds of late: "Sarcopenia is suddenly a hot topic in aging and geriatric research. In the coming years, sarcopenia is going to be one of the biggest health problems we face. It has a devastating effect on mobility and mortality in older adults, and we desperately want to know how to prevent it. ... sarcopenia is widespread, affecting roughly 45 percent of Americans 60 and older. Studies show that muscle loss begins in middle age and proceeds at a rate of about 1 percent a year." If you lose the ability to exercise, you lose the beneficial effects of exercise on health and longevity. Signs of a correctable root cause to sarcopenia - involving the amino acid leucine - are promising, however.
Link: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/14080405.htm