Reimers C D, Harder T, Saxe H
Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany.
J Neurol Sci. 1998 Jul 15;159(1):60-6. doi: 10.1016/s0022-510x(98)00134-8.
In adults, the volume of quadriceps femoris muscle decreases with age, whereas the impact of increasing age on the size of other extremity muscles was hardly studied. This study was conducted to examine whether age-related muscle atrophy is a general phenomenon, whether it is accompanied by increasing subcutaneous fat and whether physical activity can compensate age-related muscle atrophy. One hundred and two female and 101 male subjects (aged 19-86 years), with common physical activity, as well as 29 women and 38 men (aged 20-81 years) regularly performing sports at least 3 h per week for several years (mean, 10 years in women and 14 years in men, respectively), were examined. Both in athletes and control subjects, the thickness of thigh muscles significantly decreased with age (-15(-)-21% from age 20 to age 70), whereas diameter of upper arm muscles remained nearly unchanged. Diameters of the calf muscle decreased with advancing age only in the control group. In male control subjects, the tibialis anterior muscle shrunk as well. Except for the vastus lateralis muscle in women, the relative loss of muscle thickness was more evident in control subjects than in athletes. Thickness of the subcutaneous fat layers remained almost unchanged. In summary, not all extremity muscles exhibit age-related decrease in size. Regular physical activity can ease off muscle atrophy.
在成年人中，股四头肌的体积会随着年龄增长而减小，然而年龄增长对其他肢体肌肉大小的影响却鲜有研究。本研究旨在探讨与年龄相关的肌肉萎缩是否是一种普遍现象，是否伴有皮下脂肪增加，以及体育活动能否补偿与年龄相关的肌肉萎缩。研究对象包括102名女性和101名男性受试者（年龄在19 - 86岁之间），他们有日常体育活动，以及29名女性和38名男性（年龄在20 - 81岁之间），这些人多年来每周定期进行至少3小时的体育活动（平均而言，女性为10年，男性为14年）。在运动员和对照组受试者中，大腿肌肉厚度均随年龄显著降低（从20岁到70岁降低了15% - 21%），而上臂肌肉直径几乎保持不变。仅在对照组中，小腿肌肉直径随年龄增长而减小。在男性对照组受试者中，胫骨前肌也出现萎缩。除女性的股外侧肌外，对照组受试者肌肉厚度的相对损失比运动员更明显。皮下脂肪层厚度几乎保持不变。总之，并非所有肢体肌肉都会出现与年龄相关的大小减小。规律的体育活动可以缓解肌肉萎缩。
