Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 53 Shogoin, Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Jun;111(6):989-95. doi: 10.1007/s00421-010-1728-8. Epub 2010 Nov 17.
This study investigated the relationship between walking ability and age-related muscle atrophy of the lower limbs in elderly women. The subjects comprised 20 young women and 37 elderly women who resided in nursing homes or chronic care institutions. The elderly subjects were divided into three groups according to their walking ability. The muscle thickness of the following ten lower limb muscles were measured by B-mode ultrasound: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, psoas major, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius and soleus. Compared to the young group, muscle thicknesses of all muscles except the soleus muscle were significantly smaller in all the elderly groups. There were no significant differences between the fast- and slow-walking groups in the thickness of any muscle. In the dependent elderly group, noticeable muscle atrophy was observed in the quadriceps femoris muscle. The results of this study suggest that the elderly who are capable of locomotion, regardless of their walking speed, show a moderate degree of age-related atrophy, while those who do not walk exhibit more severe atrophy, especially in the quadriceps femoris muscle.
本研究旨在探讨老年人下肢步行能力与年龄相关肌肉萎缩的关系。研究对象包括 20 名年轻女性和 37 名居住在养老院或慢性病护理机构的老年女性。根据步行能力，老年受试者被分为三组。使用 B 型超声测量以下 10 个下肢肌肉的肌肉厚度：臀大肌、臀中肌、臀小肌、腰大肌、股直肌、股外侧肌、股中间肌、股二头肌、腓肠肌和比目鱼肌。与年轻组相比，所有老年组除比目鱼肌外，所有肌肉的肌肉厚度均显著减小。快速行走组和慢速行走组之间任何肌肉的厚度均无显著差异。在依赖行走的老年组中，股四头肌出现明显的肌肉萎缩。本研究结果表明，能够行走的老年人，无论其行走速度如何，均表现出与年龄相关的中度萎缩，而不能行走的老年人则表现出更严重的萎缩，尤其是股四头肌。
