Howard J. Luks, MD
Muscle Mass, Strength and Longevity
When optimizing our health and longevity, prioritizing muscle mass and muscle strength are critically important considerations. Our muscle mass, and strength decline with age. The changes that occur…
Loss of muscle mass is predictive of a shorter lifespan, and worse recovery after injury or surgery (View Highlight)
While chronic disease sets the stage for our decline as we age, what ultimately leads to frailty and our demise is the risk of falling, and the injuries sustained from falling (View Highlight)
Exercising when we are younger induces epigenetic changes that will affect lifespan. An epigenetic modification refers to the effects that exercise and muscle mass have on your DNA expression. We have 10s of thousands of genes in our DNA. Not all of them are turned on. Exercise leads to some of those genes being turned on (an epigenetic change), and those genes might decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, premature aging, neurocognitive decline, and so on. It is, therefore never too early to initiate and stick with a resistance exercise program (View Highlight)