Muscle: What you ought to know about aging

This article is a continuation of my interview and conversation with Dr. Ardeshir Hashmi, MD, the Cleveland Clinic's endowed chair for geriatric innovation and a champion for successful aging. The topic is about how our body changes with age, specifically, changes that have nothing to do with disease yet are physiological changes that proliferate between the ages of 65 and 80. Left unaddressed, and often not adapted, for an older person, one can lose his or her functional health and independent lifestyle. Muscles change with age despite being a healthy adult. For those who have managed to look the same, and maybe even weigh the same over the years, underneath our skin, the body's composition is still changing as we grow older. The condition is called Sarcopenia or muscle loss. This is when muscles get smaller, and the body becomes weaker. The other thing that occurs, as muscles shrink in size, is that the quantity of fat tissue increases, thus replacing muscle tissue. Hashmi explained that muscle loss is a common phenomenon in later life. By looking at yourself, you may not see this change. He said, "People will often say to me, 'Well, I'm not losing weight'. I will reply, 'You're right. You are not losing weight, but the weight that is from your muscle is decreasing. The weight from your fat is increasing.'" If weight loss is needed in later life, Hashmi says, "Weight loss from fat is good to lose. Weight loss from muscle loss is not good to lose, especially if you are older." One way to tell that muscle loss is taking place is when changes occur in the way a person walks. As muscle size diminishes, there is less muscle to lift the feet high enough off the floor over a curb or step. If one is accidentally pushed, it takes less force to cause him/her to stumble. This is not a change to accept as part of being older. It's a sign that it's time to talk to your doctor — Serving Our Seniors recommends that you talk to a geriatrician — about doing some weight-bearing exercises to correct this problem and eating enough protein to help build the muscle that's being lost. According to Hashmi, "Protein in the diet to rebuild muscle is critically important along with some sort of weight-bearing exercise that is done every single day. Even if it's just for 10 minutes a day, it will help, a lot, to retain your muscle." If you would like to learn exercises you can do at home to build muscle, contact Serving Our Seniors (Mail@ServingOurSeniors.org or 419-624-1856) and ask for the booklet, "Growing Stronger: Strength Training for Older Adults." It's also available on the CDC's website.