Weight lifting and resistance training are effective non-drug ways to increase muscle mass. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
I’ve had many interesting talks with Dr. John Morley, an expert on endocrine therapy at St. Louis University. He describes how the public is often misled by Madison Avenue ads for snake-oil therapy. I asked him to give me an overview of what had merit in the prevention of sarcopenia and what is best tossed out with the garbage.
Morley says that the male hormone, testosterone, gives a boost to muscles in boys during puberty, but then starts to decline. He cites a Mayo Clinic study that gave testosterone patches to a group of men in their 60s and 70s and a placebo to a similar age-group.
Two years later, the testosterone group had three more pounds of muscle. But these extra pounds had no effect on their muscle strength or endurance. At the moment there’s no evidence that testosterone therapy is useful, and it may be associated with a risk of increased prostate cancer.
What about human growth hormone (HGH), which is secreted by the pituitary gland? HGH aids in growth during childhood, and it’s estimated that 30,000 people in North America are now taking HGH at a cost of $20,000 a year!
In studies done at Stanford University, HGH increased muscle mass by about four pounds. But 20 percent of those taking it suffered from swollen, painful bones and joints, 19 percent suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome, and 6 percent developed enlarged breasts—another good example that you never get something for nothing.
DHEA, made by the adrenal glands, has been touted for years for adding muscle strength, but again, studies at Mayo Clinic showed that after two years, muscle strength and exercise tolerance was no different than that provided by placebos.
Morley says the bottom line is that all these supplements carry risks. He says that people love to take a pill rather than get involved in something that requires work.
Today there’s much talk about bone loss (osteoporosis), but the significance of muscle loss has not hit the radar screen. Unlike bone loss, there is no easy way to diagnose sarcopenia, so it’s prudent not to wait until you are severely affected by sarcopenia before starting ways to prevent it.
Dr. Irwin Rosenberg, dean of the School of Nutrition at Tufts University, Boston, reports that Sarcopenia starts at about 45 years of age and increases at the rate of 1 percent a year. It means that by 65 years of age, sedentary people have lost half of their muscle mass, which means less muscle strength.
Rosenberg says that weightlifting and working on resistance machines is the answer. For instance, by using this combination, people 60 to 72 years old doubled muscle strength in 12 weeks of training, and some 90-year-olds tossed away their canes after 8 weeks of this exercise.
Dr. William Evans at the University of Arkansas cites a study in Finland in which men in their late 60s who had lifted weights for years had a muscle mass similar to non-athletes in their 20s. Jogging did not protect people from sarcopenia due to insufficient stress on muscles.
All this is bad news for those looking for the quick fix of a pill, but do not despair. A report from Tufts University suggests that a lack of protein may play a role in developing sarcopenia. Older women who consumed low levels of protein lost muscle mass in just eight weeks, but this did not occur in women who consumed an adequate-protein diet.
Tufts researchers say we need 68 grams of protein daily. Three ounces of chicken or fish contain 21 grams of protein. A baked potato with skin has 5 grams. A 10-ounce steak has 70 grams or protein.
So guess what I’m eating tonight! Unfortunately my 5-ounce glass of wine only contains 0.3 grams of protein. I’d better have a second glass!
Dr. Gifford-Jones is a medical journalist with a private medical practice in Toronto. His Web site is Mydoctor.ca/gifford-jones
