Muscle Mass and Strength Research

Risk factors for loss of muscle strength in aging men
The researchers concluded that the following were risk factors:
“Multivariate analyses revealed that besides older age, other risk factors also contributed to the loss of muscle strength in older men, including back pain, use of calcium channel blockers, caffeine intake, and height and weight loss.”

Resistance Training Important for Aging Muscles and Tendons
Researchers writing the medical journal Experimental Physiology say that resistance training is not only good for preventing age-related loss of muscle but for tendons as well.

Strength Training and Nutritional Counseling Benefits In Women
Writing in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers noted that long-term strength training and nutritional counseling had positive effects of metabolic health indicators.

Walking off Postmenopausal Decreases in bone mineral density, aerobic fitness, muscle strength, and balance.
Researchers writing in the medical journal Physical Therapy say that “Menopause may induce a phase of rapid decreases in bone mineral density, aerobic fitness, muscle strength, and balance, especially in sedentary women. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects and feasibility of an exercise program of 1 or 2 bouts of walking and resistance training on lower-extremity muscle strength (the force-generating capacity of muscle), balance, and walking performance in women who recently went through menopause.”

What is the Effect of Insulin Resistance and Loss of Lean Muscle (Sarcopenia) As We Age?
Researchers writing in the Journal of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology say: “A reduced response of older skeletal muscle to anabolic stimuli (exercise & diet) may contribute to the development of sarcopenia.

Power Training and Balance in Older Adults
Researchers in Australia and Massachusetts say that low load, high velocity power training can improve balance and reduce fall risks in aging subjects. The researchers concluded: “Power training significantly improved balance performance in participants who underwent power training compared to controls. Low intensity power training produced the greatest improvement in balance performance.

Insulin Resistance Tied To Age-Related Muscle Loss

Writing in the medical journal Diabetes and Metabolism, researchers say: “…insulin resistance could be involved in age-related muscle protein loss, progressively leading to sarcopenia. Therefore in a more general concept, insulin resistance found in many clinical settings, could be considered as a contributor to muscle wasting.”

Guillet C, Boirie Y. Insulin resistance: a contributing factor to age-related muscle mass loss? Diabetes Metab. 2005 Dec;31 Spec No 2:20-6.

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Related Articles
Insulin Resistance, Weight Gain Lead to Early Aging
“Tulane University researchers are the first to demonstrate a biological link between insulin resistance, weight gain and signs of early aging in the blood…”

Testosterone for Women

Testosterone is the male sex hormone, but, it is also an important sex hormone for women. A woman produces testosterone in her ovaries and adrenal glands and obviously produces a lot less than a man because women do not grow the muscles or facial and body hair characteristic of higher testosterone levels.

Girls begin to produce testosterone as they approach puberty for use as a precursor to estrogen. A woman will have peak testosterone levels in her mid-twenties and then suffer a steady decline to half those levels in her forties. In my practice, however, I frequently see some women in their thirties producing an insufficient amount of testosterone (especially after child birth).

Additionally, if a woman has a hysterectomy, testosterone levels can drop quickly and significantly.

Signs of testosterone deficiency in women:
1. Low or no sex drive
2. Lack of energy
3. Obesity, especially abdominal fat
4. Loss of muscle tone
5. Reduced bone mass
6. Increased fracture risk
7. Fatigue
8. Wrinkles
9. Hot flashes despite estrogen therapy

The importance of blood tests
Not all women in perimenopause or menopause will be testosterone deficient. Some of the symptoms listed above could be caused by other hormonal problems or health issues. This is why blood, saliva, or urine testing is so important and why self-medication with “testosterone enhancers” or Testosterone itself based on symptoms alone is dangerous.

We order a blood test for total testosterone, as well as free testosterone. While both levels are important to watch, we want to pay special attention to the “Free Testosterone” reading because it is the active hormone.

When a physician orders a total testosterone reading alone, it is possible to get back a “normal,” “within range” reading on a patient who exhibits clearly defined symptoms for testosterone deficiency. How is this possible?

Because most of the testosterone in the body is linked to proteins, the smaller remaining portion is “free” to make itself available to the cells of the body. Free Testosterone or the lack of it is most responsible for symptoms or alleviation of symptoms associated with testosterone. That is why monitoring its levels are so important in testosterone supplementation therapy.

Many scientific papers, some listed below, have cited the following benefits possible to women taking testosterone.

1. Increased sexual desire
2. Relief of menopausal symptoms
3. Reduction of bone loss / osteoporosis
4. Increased vitality
5. Reduced body fat
6. Improved skin tone by stimulating collagen growth
7. Enhanced “quality of life”

Testosterone supplementation risks
It is important to understand that not all women will benefit from Testosterone supplementation. The goals, realities, and risks of Testosterone supplementation should be discussed, at length, with your physician prior to onset of treatment.