Research reveals how exercise turns back the clock in aging muscles

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As a result of its proven ability to prevent and treat several chronic diseases at low cost, doctors have called exercise a drug-free ‘polypill’ _ a drug combination consisting of a single drug product in a pill form and thus combines multiple medications.

Research has shown that people who exercise regularly not only strengthen their muscles but also improve their overall health, regardless of how late in life they start.

Exercise may prevent or treat almost every chronic disease, with obvious benefits such as its low cost and practical lack of adverse effects.

Studies have also found that exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in older people.
Conversely, reductions in muscle mass and strength are associated with lower quality of life and higher mortality from all causes.

In a new study whose results appear in The Journal of Physiology in USA, Dr. Murach and his colleagues compared the effects of a mature cell (OKSM) factor on gene expression in the muscle fibers of mice that had access to an exercise wheel, and mice that had no access.

The researchers also investigated how exercise alone affected gene expression in muscle fibers from both mice and humans. The mice were 22 months old, which is equivalent to a human age of around 73 years.

Mice in the exercise group were free to run on an unweighted wheel for the first week, then, over the next 8 weeks, the scientists made the wheel progressively heavier by attaching magnetic weights to it.

The results suggest that exercise reprograms muscle fibers to a more youthful state through increased expression of the genes.

The exercise-induced changes “reprogram” the epigenetic expression of the fibers to a more youthful state.

Scientists hope that a better understanding of how exercise rejuvenates aged muscle at a molecular level will provide clues for future anti-aging therapies.

However, for older individual , an exercise physiologist, Dr John Loges recommends ‘’ low-impact, full-body workouts with a focus on lower body and core.

“Resistance training is not only suitable but highly recommended for those in their 70s and beyond.

“The key is starting slow and progressing slowly with consistency,”

Summarily, exercise should be considered a health-enhancing, potentially life-extending treatment, alongside medications and a healthy diet.

( Sciencedirect, MNT)