The quick lesson here is that we
all need to maintain a regular regimen that provides endurance exercises. This is generally opposite to what we
anticipate in terms of strength training which is generally harder to
maintain. Perhaps that is why simple
walking seems to lead as an exercise regime.
Now if we could only figure out how
to integrate a couple of hours every day of bucking firewood for upper body endurance
we would be good to go. Actually the
rowing machine seems the best bet.
If such simple regimes could then
be integrated with a drug for promoting stem cell release then muscle recovery
and related bone recovery becomes plausible.
Weight training seems a lot less
important in light of this work, and the focus needs to switch to muscle group
endurance work.
TAU
uncovers muscle-stem cell mechanism in aging
Working out can help you shed pounds — but
that's just the beginning. New research fromTel Aviv
University has found that "endurance
exercises," like a Central Park jog or a
spinning class, can make us look younger. The key, exercise, unlocks the stem
cells of our muscles.
Prof. Dafna Benayahu and her team at Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine say their findings explain for the first
time why older people who have exercised throughout their lives age more
gracefully. They have discovered how endurance exercise increases the number of
muscle stem cells and enhances their ability to rejuvenate old muscles. The
researchers hope their finding can lead to a new drug to help the elderly and
immobilized heal their muscles faster.
The results of the study were recently
published in the journal PLoS ONE.
The real rat race
The muscles and skeleton in
our bodies work together, explains Prof. Benayahu. "When we age, we
experience sarcopenia, a decline in mass and function of muscles, and
osteopenia referrers to bone loss," she says. As a result, our
musculoskeletal system is more susceptible to daily wear and tear, which also
explains the increased risk of falling in the elderly.
Investigating a rat population, Dr. Gabi Shefer from the research team says that the
finding shows that exercise increased the number of satellite cells (muscle
stem cells) — a number which normally declines with aging. The researchers
believe that a decline in the number of these cells and their functionality may
prevent proper maintenance of muscle mass and its ability to repair itself,
leading to muscle deterioration.
Comparing the performance of
rats of different ages and sexes, they found that the number of satellite cells
increased after rats ran on a treadmill for 20 minutes a day for a 13-week
period. The younger rats showed a 20% to 35% increase in the average number of
stem cells per muscle fiber retained — and older rats benefited even more
significantly, exhibiting a 33% to 47% increase in stem cells.
A good reason to get up and dance
Endurance exercise also
improved the levels of "spontaneous locomotion" — the feeling that
tells our bodies to just get up and dance — of old rats. Aging is typically
associated with a reduced level of spontaneous locomotion.
The combination of aging and
a sedentary lifestyle significantly contributes to the development of diseases
such as osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, as well as
a decline in cognitive abilities. If researchers can discover a method to
"boost" satellite cells in our muscles, that could simulate the
performance of young and healthy muscles — and hold our aging bones in place.
"We hope to understand
the mechanisms for the activation codes of muscle stem cells at the molecular
level," says Prof. Benayahu. "With this advance, we can let ourselves
dream about creating a new drug for humans — one that could increase muscle
mass and ameliorate the negative effects of aging."
Grants for this study were
provided by the EU-FP7 Excell project; the Israeli Ministry of Health; and the
U.S. – Israel Binational Science Foundation jointly with Prof. Yablonka-Reuveni
from the University of Washington.
For more
medicine and health news from Tel
Aviv University
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